This year’s University graduation ceremonies included the first ever graduands in Maltese Studies.
The University’s Institute of Maltese Studies, which was set up in 2005, inaugurated three-year postgraduate programmes in 2008, which have attracted a steady flow of students. At the graduation ceremony held on November 18 in the Jesuits’ church in Valletta, Institute director Henry Frendo presented nine IMS graduands for Masters and Ph.D degrees.
The students’ dissertation topics were varied, giving an indication of the interdisciplinary nature of the institute’s mission.
Marced Zahra Sacco’s topic was the public perception of għana in contemporary society while Noel D’Anastas’ focused on 1950s pop music. Maria Pia Meli’s dissertation dealt with secularism, while Raymond Gerada researched local aspects of trade unionism.
Maria Abela’s topic was Maltese fiction for adolescents, Daniela Mallia’s was legends as a reflection of Maltese identity, Alfred Cremona’s was military architecture as heritage, while Paul Portelli’s dealt with insects of commercial value in Maltese culture and tradition.
Mario Cassar’s Ph.D thesis focused on Sicilian and Italian connections in Maltese surnames.
Meticulously avoiding the customary departmental pigeonholing in preference for interdisciplinary approaches, Maltese Studies subjects comprise research methodologies including museums and archives, Maltese culture and identity, language and ethnicity, agriculture, foodstuffs and cuisine, geography as lifestyle, and the Maltese natural environment. Other topics include migrant settlement, the dockyard, trade, industry, religion and society, creative, visual and performing arts.
A second batch of students are completing the taught courses before they start on their dissertations next year. Another postgraduate evening course in Maltese Studies will open in October 2012.
Prof. Frendo said it was both useful and necessary for students to ask what the nature of a Maltese nationality and lifestyle was, especially in the context of a spreading globalisation and membership of the European Union.
He added that the tailor-made interdisciplinary approaches catered for by the Institute’s postgraduate degrees offered specialisations and potential employment opportunities in a wide variety of areas both locally and overseas.