Catherine Therrien
I am an anthropologist from Quebec living in Morocco since 2001 and have been a professor (adjunct professor) at Al Akhawayn University of Ifrane (AUI) since 2014. I have also taught in the International Studies Abroad (ISA) program for American students who study abroad in the city of Meknès since 2013. My research focuses mainly on identity, mixedness, family, migration and transnationalism. I obtained my PhD in anthropology at the Université de Montréal in 2010. My thesis, which focused on mixed couples in the Moroccan context, also inspired my book, « En voyage chez soi, trajectoires de couples mixtes au Maroc » published by the PUL in 2014. The funding obtained from the Programme Ibn Khaldoun d’appui à la recherche Scientifique dans le domaine des Sciences Humaines et Sociales (2020-2023) allows me to carry out a longitudinal study, this time focusing on the descendants of mixed couples. This comparative research project (Quebec-Morocco) on the identity of children of mixed couples is the result of a long and fruitful transnational collaboration with my colleague Josiane Le Gall, associate researcher at the Université de Montréal. As the principal investigator of this research project, I have surrounded myself with a dynamic, multidisciplinary research team (anthropology, legal sciences and documentary). Over the past few years, thanks to funds obtained from the MIM-Amerm program (2014-2015 / 2016-2017), I have been carrying out studies on North-South mobility and in particular on the migration of French and Spanish migrants in Morocco. Recently, I have also developed a passion for South-South mobility, and in particular that of migrants from de sub-Saharan African countries. I have been involved with the ‘Accueil Migrants Meknès’ association since 2017. Together we organize awareness-raising activities and bring together students, the local community and migrants. My last book, « Celui qui échoue devient sorcier. Parcours d’un migrant camerounais parti d’Afrique et arrivé… en Afrique » published by the PUL in 2019, tells the story of a Cameroonian migrant who left his village with the dream of reaching Europe, but whose trajectory led him to make Morocco a second home. With a research team from Al Akhawayn University, we recently received funding from the H-2020 program of the European Union (2021-2025) and by using a multidisciplinary approach (anthropology, political science, history, communication, musical story telling) we will be able to look deeper into the question of migratory narratives.