From Oran to Mostaganem: Tracking a Journey Through Northern Algeria

For our final project, we decided to analyze one of the many routes that the guidebook suggests tourists explore: the two-day journey from Oran, one of the biggest cities under French occupation with an especially large European population, northeast to Mostaganem, a town that was once the site of major batfoes during the French conquest. This route is unique because it single handedly encaosulates much of the themes we have discussed throughout the semester: travellers are invited to admire Roman ruins which justify the continuous colonization of Algeria, to marvel at the French industrialization of Algeria's natural resources, and to pity the allegedly mistreated Arab women. This tour becomes not just an excursion, but an exploration of the dynamics of Empire.