Professor Victor Mallia-Milanes and Dr Simon Mercieca were invited by the Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Cagliari, Professor Luciano Marrocu, to attend a two-day seminar in Cagliari with the theme Immagini dell'altro.
Professor Mallia-Milanes gave an extensive reading on how the Order of St John and the Venetian Republic viewed each other, referring to their mutual differences and diffidence. Dr Mercieca discussed the origins of modern Maltese historiography and how the use of the Italian language was instrumental for 19th century historians, in particular Gio Antonio Vassallo, to formulate the first anti-colonial consciousness in the writing of the Maltese history.