 "Photo: Haywood McNeill")
Rachel Markowitz is the first undergraduate from UTD to be awarded a prestegious Fulbright Scholarship, a fellowship that enables students to study and research abroad.
She graduated with a degree in political science in May and was also a member of the McDermott Scholar program.
"The McDermott Scholar program helped me with a support system of faculty members and staff that pushed me and encouraged me to be very successful," she said.
Markowitz said her experiences as a study abroad student have prepared her for the demanding research she plans to pursue in Morocco.
Markowitz said the study abroad semester that first took her to Morocco was made possible by the School for International Training (SIT). The program sends students to several countries for a semester of classes and research at SIT-sponsored universities. The program is part of an organization called World Learning, which helps students study all over the world.
Markowitz had experience traveling, but said she found long-term study in another country quite different from being a tourist.
"It was very important to me to live within the community. It showed me that I can survive anywhere and that I am capable of adapting to new situations," she said.
The program places a student with a sponsor family and allows the student to take classes at a local university. This approach immerses the student into the country's culture and language.
The Fulbright Scholarship is rigorous, with many programs available for professionals, scholars and pre-professionals. For Markowitz, the program will entail 6 months of Arabic classes and 9 months of research.
The application required a detailed research proposal, a language requirement and endorsement by the university. Even if the application is accepted, the proposal must then be sent to a committee in the host country for evaluation. From there, a candidate is cleared by the U.S. State Department, completes research and reports back.
Markowitz plans to use the Fulbright Scholarship to delve into conflict resolution, particularly alternate dispute resolutions (ADR). She will try to determine what effect, if any, ADR have on domestic communities in Morocco and what happens when Western traditions are implemented in other cultures.
During her semester in Morocco, Markowitz lived with a Moroccan family in the city of Rabat, the capital of Morocco, for 5 months. Her studies included classes in Arabic, cultural immersion and weekend travel to different places in Morocco such as Marrakech, famous for its street performers, and Merzouga, near the Algerian border.
"A lot of things were very different. But, the experiences that we see from an American perspective are completely different from a Moroccan perspective," she said.
Markowitz said she discovered Moroccan customs are quite unlike American ones, to the extent that socially acceptable behavior may initially cause Americans to be uncomfortable.
Among the customs that stood out to Markowitz, "street stalking," she said, is perhaps the most unusual. Street stalking consists of men cat-calling or looking at women out on the streets.
Men who ultilize street stalking are harmless, and some have even found love through street stalking. The reason for street stalking has more to do with gender roles.
"Street stalking stems from the value that women once had in the private sphere in the past. Men were more involved in the public sphere," she said. When women became more active in public, men reacted by street stalking. But extreme cases are not viewed in a positive light.
As for future plans, Markowitz said she would like to obtain degrees in law and conflict resolution.
