T

he Arts enhance the way we look at ourselves and the world around us. They give expression to our lives and desires. This range is reflected in the Faculty of Arts’ 16 departments from Anthropology to Philosophy and Literature to International Relations.

The last decade has seen a big push for postgraduate education in the Faculty of Arts with over 10 new M.A. courses. The Literary Tradition and Popular Culture course, for example, brings together seven of these departments covering topics from post-modern literature studies to the aesthetics of decline. Some of the academics involved have founded a new journal called CounterText with Edinburgh University Press in 2015 to study the post-literary, or how new technological advances and globalisation have changed the literary world.

The M.A. in Film Studies is bridging the gap between film theory and practice. Students produce short films while developing their critical analysis. Keeping in tradition with the rest of the Faculty, they have recently organised film screenings to celebrate the final cut of the celebrated 1973 cult movie The Wicker Man. To discuss Shakespeare on the 400th year anniversary of his death, the Department of English (together with other UoM based institutions) organised a series of films in 2016, with the Spanish & Latin American Studies Department doing the same on Cervantes celebrating 400 years of the great writer. Films touch every discipline and people’s hearts, stimulating discussion.

Another example of interdisciplinary collaborations is the Humanities and Medical Sciences (HUMS) Programme. Since its foundation in 2012 the group has released several papers and books ranging from medicine-related texts in the bible to gender studies of the Maltese medical profession. Apart from regular seminars, the group also supports events such as the 2nd academic Star Trek symposium to be held in Malta this year. HUMS attempts to close the breach between medicine, the sciences and the humanities. Their symposium is a world-first.

Photo by Elisa von Brockdorf

Another medium to engage with ideas is exhibitions. The Department of History of Art’s research ranges from the Baroque to the contemporary era. In 2016 they hosted an exhibition on the still-life paintings of the renowned baroque-era artist Francesco Noletti, known as il Maltese, in the 16th century Valletta Campus. In 2015 another exhibition reflected on modern European sculpture including the work of Maltese sculptor, Josef Kalleya.

An important achievement of this Faculty is a new library inaugurated in 2012. It holds over 3,000 books including the priceless Ann Williams collection. The books reflect every single department in the Faculty including the recently incorporated Departments of German (2008), Spanish & Latin American Studies (2011) and Anthropological Sciences (2011). Perhaps things were best said by Pablo Picasso, ‘we all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realise truth.’