Derek Vella, on behalf of The Alfred Mizzi Foundation, recently presented a cheque for €1,000 to Vanessa Buhagiar, recipient of the MA in Mediterranean Studies bursary. The Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Prof. Dominic Fenech, thanked the foundation for its continuing support, which he hoped others would be encouraged to follow.
For his part, Mr Vella expressed his and the foundation’s satisfaction at being associated with an important endeavour such as the MA in Mediterranean Studies. The presentation was held at the Faculty of Arts Library.
Ms Buhagiar is a 22-year-old recent graduate in history from the University of Malta and has enrolled in the taught MA in Mediterranean Studies at the Faculty of Arts to further her academic studies and explore different fields of knowledge.
Being interested in culture, the MA was a clear choice for her, as the programme examines the culturally variegated region that is the Mediterranean. Through her BA dissertation on cultural aspects of German Hospitallers in 18th century Malta, as well as her research project on the Auberge d’Italie with MUŻA, she has come to appreciate the extensive interconnectivity of the Maltese Islands with the wider Mediterranean region.
She said: “Having come from a background of history, I have learned that any subject or object of study needs to be placed within its wider context understand how the bigger picture has become formative on the peculiar – what, if not the Mediterranean, has constituted the context of Malta for much of its history? The MA in Mediterranean Studies has certainly broadened my knowledge in this regard and has informed me on the different discourses and approaches concerning the Mediterranean as a region and concept. It has certainly changed the way I perceive the world and has especially elicited an appreciation in the multifaceted and complex region that is the Mediterranean.”
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