What is the CMS?

The Center for Maghrib Studies (CMS) at Arizona State University produces knowledge and understanding of the Maghrib. The Maghrib region is constituted of North African countries West of Egypt, specifically Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania. CMS focuses on the historic roles of the Maghrib region over the centuries with the intention of increasing understanding of and insight into this understudied and pivotal region. CMS’s mission, conferences and workshops will particularly emphasize the Maghrib’s African identity by advancing our understanding of North Africa that connects with the Sahara and sub-Saharan Africa, as well as with the trans-Atlantic African diaspora. Moreover, CMS has a pedagogical mission to promote educational innovation, research and dialogue between the US and the Maghrib region. CMS will implement these goals through conferences, newsletters and collaborations with scholars in different disciplines and institutions of learning in the US and North Africa.

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Ongoing projects

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Scholarly articles

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Center participants

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Maps updated

Mapping the Maghrib

The Mapping the Maghrib project is a multifaceted attempt to “map” the region’s culture, peoples and history with both focused efforts and a multi-disciplinary interactive presence on the internet. Building on the successes of ASU Library and the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies in telling and presenting “important stories” and providing rigorous academic examination of significant historical ideas and trends, the project will present a critical dissection and electronic presentation of the ideological, political, historical, cultural, language, music, artistic representations, and religious milieu of the region and its geography.