For Hanane Idihoum (MAAS’26), selecting and researching her master’s thesis was a deeply personal experience. While exploring the recruitment of Moroccans to work in coal mines following World War II, a little-known historical event that shaped her grandfather’s life, Idihoum traveled to Morocco and France to pursue archival research.
As we continue celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Idihoum reflects on the thesis process and her experiences with Arab studies, emphasizing the importance of bringing learning out of the classroom and into the world.
“My grandfather was actually a coal miner in France, and I never got to do his oral history, and I never got to talk to him while he was still alive, but I just always had so many questions about how this migration was orchestrated,” she explains.
Watch Idihoum discuss her CCAS experience.