Morocco welcomes 24 American Fulbright grantees for 2026-2027 academic year

The Moroccan-American Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange (MACECE) and the U.S. Embassy in Rabat welcomed 24 American Fulbright grantees to Morocco for the 2026-2027 academic year this week.

The cohort, currently undergoing orientation in Rabat, includes six U.S. student researchers, five scholars, 12 English Teaching Assistants and one participant in the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching program. The grantees will conduct research, teach and work with institutions and communities across Morocco.

The six researchers will explore topics ranging from Amazigh representation in Moroccan cinema in Ouarzazate and the experiences of French-born Muslim families relocating to Morocco in Meknès to sustainable tourism around kasbah and ksar sites in Souss-Massa and Drâa-Tafilalet. Other projects will examine late medieval Maghribi manuscripts, the traditional knowledge of Amazigh women working in a saffron cooperative near Taliouine, and the use of participatory artificial intelligence tools to help High Atlas communities preserve heritage while recovering from the 2023 earthquake.

The new cohort arrives as Morocco and the United States mark 250 years of relations, dating back to Morocco’s recognition of U.S. independence in 1777, while the Fulbright Program celebrates its 80th anniversary.

MACECE Executive Director Rebecca Geffner said the grantees’ work, spanning AI, education, urban development and cultural heritage, would help strengthen ties between Morocco and the United States. U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Benjamin Ziff said the program had created lasting connections between the two countries’ people and institutions.

At the same time, nearly 50 Moroccan Fulbright recipients have departed for the United States for the academic year. They will take part in master’s programs, doctoral and senior-scholar research, Arabic-language teaching and professional development.