**This class will be taught In-Person**
Suspended between a glorious past and a threatening present, Fez is 1200 years old, with a 9th-century university, 11th-century tanneries, 14th-century madrasas, and massive 15th-century fortifications. Postcard picturesque, puzzling and seductive, its apparent irrationality conceals a deep functional logic. It is still renowned as the spiritual capital of Morocco, and is striking by its sheer density of life. Split into a French New Town and ancient Arab medina, it became a center of anti-colonial resistance, and since independence in 1956, of opposition to government tyranny. Now its artisan- and women-led community organizations stand tenaciously against tourism-driven commercialization, ‘patrimonialisation’ and gentrification.
