Anthropologist Mark-Anthony Falzon yesterday defended idleness as a prime enabler of intellectual development and as one of the reasons to retain student stipends.
Prof. Falzon, who was addressing this year’s tenth batch of graduates, expressed himself in favour of stipends in an entertaining and thought-provoking speech.
He invited his audience to entertain the thought that it was both wise and productive to invest in idle leisure at the expense of work.
Admitting that there might be some tongue-in-cheek elements in his address, he insisted he was mostly “dead serious”.
The idleness he had in mind was both active and productive: active, because it posited idleness as a “carefully-planned and cultivated life project”; and productive because it was an essential part of a creative mindset.
Speaking of stipends, he said: “I know there are a million arguments for their abolition. They include such noble causes as a better-stocked University library, more funding for post-graduate research posts, and so on,” he said.
However he said there was an argument for keeping – and even increasing – stipends which trumped the lot.
“The main reason why I for one am in favour of stipends is that they promise to keep students in the lap of comfort and idle leisure.
“Generous stipends mean that students don’t have to work for a living. Rather like Prince Ruspoli but without the risk of losing their palaces, they can dedicate their lives to other things.
“Sadly, it seems most undergraduates these days fail to sit back to the occasion. I say ‘sadly’ partly because there is something tremendously liberating in three (or 30) years of cheap wine, recycled clothes, and pirated music, but also because my argument is precisely that idleness can and often does act as a prime enabler of intellectual development,” he said.
Dr Falzon suggested two ways to pursue idleness. The first was to plan one’s time so as to “work less and stare more”. By “work” he did not mean heart operations and teaching, but writing reports about heart operations that go to gather dust in a filing cabinet, and too much teaching.
The second involved finding a specialised space.
“Every home should have its dolittle corners where one can read, talk, write or simply sit around – preferably not while zapping away pointlessly at a television set.”
Faculty of Arts
Bachelor of Arts (Honours)
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Arabic
Kurstin Gatt (Robing), Sarah Hussain and Noel Zahra.
Anthropology
Jean Claude Attard*, Joshua Briffa, Randolph Mamo, Anita Muscat and Marguerite Pace Bonello.
Archaeology
Amr Ahmed Abdo*, Annalise Agius, Karl Cachia, Bernard Cachia Zammit and Grace Cassar.
Classical Hebrew
Rachel Cilia Werdmölder*
English
Michaela Abela, Kelly Maryanne Azzopardi, Roberta Pavlova Basarbolieva* , Martina Borg, Daniela Maria Calleja, Christine Caruana, Melissa Caruana , Analise Cassar Farrugia, Claude Coleiro, Maria Cremona, Kelly Dent, Maya Dowling, Lorella Fava, Ambrose Dae Galea*, Sephora Gauci, Carla Magro , Rebekka Mamo, David Mangion, Daniela Manicaro, Jessica Micallef, Ramona Montebello, Sheldon Muchmore, Benjamin Spiteri, Gabriella May Spiteri , Lorraine Stagno, Luca Ray Zerafa
French
Brandon Sam Azzopardi, Jasamine Azzopardi, Tamsin Brincat, Luana Darmanin, Anna Falzon, Ryan Grima and Marc Henry Schembri.
Geography
Ryan David Bonett, Kurt Bugeja, Daniel Caruana Smith, Josielle Cassar , Joanna Causon Deguara, Nathaniel Cesare, Marthese Cini, David Grech , Christian Grima, Bernard Maniscalco, Karl Micallef, Stephan Micallef, Rachel Portelli, Sephora Sammut, Lucia Sapienza, Cheryl Tonna, Tyler-Christian Mitchell Charles Tonna and Mariana Fortunata Zammit.
German
Shana Caruana and Nicole Mari Falzon.
History
Jael Katya Agius, Joanna Attard, Joseph Stephen Bonanno, Michael Paul Borg, Christopher Buttigieg, Charlene Cassar, Maria Cremona, Jeremy Debono, Joseph Mario Farrugia, Lara Farrugia, Matteos Galea, Melissa Claire Galea, Mariana Grech, Svetlana Grech, Felix Mussik and Rhys James Parsons.
History of Art
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Italian
Darleen Jane Abela, Raissa Abela, Glen Bonnici, Maria Falzon, Daniel Gafà , Glen Micallef, Jessica Micallef and Jessica Sacco.
Linguistics
Rebecca Lynn Vella Muskat*
Maltese
Claire Marie Axiak, Alexia Joan Azzopardi, Christa Boffa, Francesco Bonello , Liza Busuttil, Roxette Caruana, Franciana Cassar, Jean Pierre Cassar, Ancel Cefai, Reuben De Gabriele, Desirée Dimech, Adreana Roberta Maria Farrugia , Marija Francesca Farrugia, Deborah Fenech, Karen Haber, George Mercieca , Jacob J Micallef, Jessica Micallef, Raisa Mifsud, Veronica Lynn Mizzi, Christian Lawrence Raggio, Nicole Marie Said, Jessica Schembri, Gianluca Joseph Paul Scicluna, Justine Somerville, Shanna Spiteri, Alvin Vassallo, Claire Marie Vella, Doriana Vella, Maria Vella, Clifford Jo Zahra and Claire Zerafa.
Music Studies
Philip Attard, Bettina Cassar, Maria Elena Farrugia, Elaine Mercieca and Edward Mifsud.
Philosophy
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Spanish Studies
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Vanessa Attard, Alba Florian Viton and Shawn James.
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Postgraduate Diploma in Interpreting
Ryan Agius Dunlop* and Joseph Paul Stagno*.
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Antonia Margherita Cutajar, Janice Mifsud and Marie Claire Mula.
Postgraduate Diploma in Hospitaller Studies
Georgette Marie Bugeja and Maria Micallef.
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Joseph Soler
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David Cortis, Luke Cutajar and Brian Gialanze.
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Lisa Marie Brooke
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John Mamo
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Maria Cauchi
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*In Absentia