Press room

This Tuesday in Casablanca, the UOC’s President, Imma Tubella, and the President of the Hassan II University Mohammedia Casablanca, Morocco, Rahma Bourqia, are to sign an agreement for closer ties between the two institutions in order to promote the mobility of capital and knowledge on both sides of the Mediterranean. The collaborative agreement involves training of trainers in e-learning for faculty at the Moroccan university, an increased range of masters degrees at Hassan II University by adding some of those already offered at the UOC, credit validation for students at Hassan II enrolling at the UOC and collaboration in Arabic language courses and the masters degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies to be offered at the UOC from next year.

The aim is to take advantage of the synergies and academic and teaching potential to benefit students, faculty and management staff at both universities. The agreement also includes aspects relating to courses in Spanish for foreigners, and the possibility of exploring ways to promote student and faculty mobility. The agreement is to be signed following the meeting the two presidents had last autumn and strengthens the UOC’s commitment to Morocco, which can be seen in other projects such as the French literacy programme for Moroccans offered by the UOC’s Campus for Peace. The UOC works to promote access to culture and knowledge via the internet and to aid access to e-learning to disadvantaged communities around the world.


Promotion of the masters degree in Islamic Studies

The UOC President’s visit to Morocco will also involve a meeting on Wednesday in Rabat with the Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO), Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, to promote the UOC’s masters degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies. Tubella is to be accompanied by Mustapha Chérif, Academic Director of the masters degree and former Algerian Education Minister.

Mustapha Chérif is an Algerian thinker, philosopher and specialist in Islam. He is an expert in dialogue between religions, cultures and civilisations. He has had a multidisciplinary education: Docteur d’état des lettres from the University of Tolouse, PhD in Sociology from the Sorbonne, Paris, and an Advanced Studies Diploma in History and International Law. He was professor at the University of Algiers, visiting professor at the Collège de France, assistant professor at the University of Tolouse and Chair of the Scientific Council at the Institut de Sciences de l’Information et de la Communication. He founded and was President of the first distance education university in Algiers, the Université de la Formation Continue. His commitment to education and dialogue led to his being named Algerian Education Minister and, subsequently, Ambassador in Cairo. He is member of a great number of Algerian and international scientific and cultural associations, such and the Emir Abdelkader Institute and Foundation, the Library of Alexandria’s Arab Reform Forum, or the Comité Stratégique en Communication de la Conférence de l’Audiovisuel en Méditerranée. He is also co-founder and joint President of France’s Islamo-Christian Friendship Group.