Malta has just hosted a group of students from the oldest school for international affairs in the US. Jo Caruana met programme founder Prof. Deborah Nutter to discover how the island provided the perfect base for the Global Master of Arts international residency.

Prof. Deborah Nutter: “International education is one of the solutions we have for how we are ever going to exist together on this planet.”Prof. Deborah Nutter: “International education is one of the solutions we have for how we are ever going to exist together on this planet.”

Malta has long been a destination asso­ciated with learning. From the hundreds of international students who attend the University of Malta to the thousands who travel here to learn English as a foreign language, the country is proud of its long-standing reputation as a centre for education.

That being said, it isn’t often that the island welcomes a programme that has taught some of the world’s top international minds and which is renowned for attracting global leaders in politics, business and the media.

That is exactly what happened when Deborah Nutter, who founded and runs the Global Master of Arts at the Fletcher School at Tufts University in Boston, fell in love with Malta and decided to make it the destination for her programme’s annual two-week international residency.

“I arrived in Malta and instantly knew it would be the perfect place for us,” says Prof. Nutter, whose programme has taken her and her students all over the world.

“It’s very special – from the landscape to the history, we were able to find all sorts of practical parallels within the course content.”

Talking through her own background, the professor explains that she has always been interested in academia and global matters. Her own doctorate in politics inspired her to launch this unique programme, and Tufts – the oldest school for international affairs in the US – provided the perfect background and base.

The course itself was founded 17 years ago, and to this day, it is the first and only hybrid programme that allows accomplished individuals from around the world to earn a Master of Arts in International Relations without interrupting their careers or relocating.

As a result, it has come to attract a huge variety of professionals, from newspaper editors and diplomats to business directors and politicians.

“I am truly proud of the people that we have been able to work with over the years and of the roles they have gone on to play in their careers after the programme. I believe this is testament to the power of the programme we run.”

Locally, Prof. Nutter chose to base the programme at the Corinthia Palace Hotel and Spa in Attard, where she and her students spent two weeks working through an in-depth agenda.

The course topics included international macroeconomics, security studies, international trade, transnational environmental issues and transnational humanitarian aid.

The students were visited by a number of prominent speakers, including President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, US Ambassador G. Kathleen Hill and former Maltese foreign minister Alexander Sceberras Trigona. While here, the group also enjoyed a full-day tour of Valletta, Mdina and the megalithic temples of Ħaġar Qim.

Malta feels like it is at the very centre of things, and our students certainly appreciated that fact

“The fact that our students are already very accomplished means they are looking for real-world examples of the topics they are studying. Malta really interested them in this respect, both from a location perspective and thanks to the many high-profile people who gave their input.

“Aside from being stimulating and beautiful, Malta’s past and present make it the ideal case study for many of the topics that we were covering in our course,” Prof Nutter says.

“After all, the island truly exemplifies everything we were covering: it links three continents and is giving its input on a multitude of major international issues, including at EU level. We were also able to link to so many moments and people in history, such as Suleiman the Magnificent and World War II.

“Malta feels like it is at the very centre of things, and our students certainly appreciated that fact.”

Reflecting on their time on the island, Prof. Nutter now cites the local residency as the “best one ever”.

“We’ve had 17 residencies over the years, but I don’t think we’ve ever been able to have such unparalleled access to a place or its people, and to build such a relationship with it.

“Plus, our choice of location at the Corinthia Palace put us right in the heart of Malta, and we were so impressed with the level of care shown to us; the hotel’s whole team exemplified Malta’s aura.

“It was also wonderful to meet so many of the country’s leaders and to discover the excellent handle they have on what’s going on in the world.

“Malta is certainly a destination to be proud of, and it provides an excellent base for high-level learning in a setting that is unique.”

Finally, Prof. Nutter stresses why such international programmes are important.

“International education is one of the solutions we have for how we are ever going to exist together on this planet. We need people who understand different cultures, who know different decision makers all over the world and who can have poli­tical and cultural sensitivity about why countries act the way they do.

“Almost 20 years since it was founded, this course has shown that it can have a positive effect on the world, and we are so enthused by that.

“Now we are equally proud that Malta has been part of our input too, and that the information and insight gained here will be used across the globe by our students in decades to come.

“We will be back.”

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