The 15^th AIDA (International Association of Arabic Dialects) Conference was held at the Valletta Campus from the 21 to the 24 of May 2024. It was organised by the Department of Maltese and the Department of Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures (Faculty of Arts), along with the Institute of Linguistics and Language Technology.

The members of the local organising committee were:

• Prof. Michael Spagnol (Department of Maltese)
• Prof. Ray Fabri (Institute of Linguistics and Language Technology)
• Dr Kurstin Gatt (Department of Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures)
• Ms Michela Vella (Malta Centre)
• Mr Raffaello Bezzina (Malta Centre)

The conference, held every two years, attracts scholars from prestigious universities globally, facilitating dialogue, collaboration, and the dissemination of cutting-edge research in the field.

The conference started on Monday 21 May with an opening address by Prof. George Grigore from the University of Bucharest, Romania, the outgoing president of AIDA, followed by Prof. Michael Spagnol and Michela Vella, representing the organising committee from the University of Malta. A highlight of the conference was the General Assembly Meeting held on Thursday, 23 May.

During this meeting, new elections were conducted for the positions of president and vice-president. We are pleased to announce that Prof. Karima Ziamari was elected as the new President and Dr Stefano Manfredi as the new Vice-President. The AIDA board extended its gratitude to the former president, Prof. George Grigore and vice-president, Prof. Karima Ziamari, for their invaluable contributions to the organisation.

The conference featured a robust academic programme with 83 oral presentations, 11 poster presentations and over 170 participants.

AIDA (Association Internationale de Dialectologie Arabe) was founded in 1992 in Paris and is dedicated to advancing the study of Arabic dialects. As the foremost international association in this field, AIDA serves as a hub for scholars worldwide interested in various aspects of Arabic dialectology. From undescribed dialects to sociolinguistics and the teaching of Arabic dialects, AIDA covers a broad spectrum of research areas.

“We are thrilled with the success of this year’s conference and are happy to announce that the next AIDA conference will be hosted by the University of Catania, Sicily”, said Dr Kurstin Gatt.