Renowned cartoonist and graphic novelist Joe Sacco will be in Malta to receive the honorary degree of Doctor of Literature. TheHonoris Causawas conferred by the Faculty of Arts of the University of MaltaonFriday 17 Novemberat the Church University in Valletta at 16:00.
Joe Saccowas born in Malta in1960. A year later his family immigrated to Melbourne, Australia, where he spent his childhood. In 1972, his family relocated to the United States. In 1978, Sacco majored in journalism at the University of Oregon, and in 1986 he started working for Fantagraphics, one of the most distinguished American publishers of independent comics and cartoons. Over the following years, his critically acclaimed strips and graphic novels focusing mostly on war-torn countries and geopolitical issues won him the name of father of comics journalism. In 2012, he earned the PEN Literary Award in Graphic Literature for Outstanding Body of Work.
The Symposium will be moderated by Professor Clare Vassallo, HUMS Coordinator, Faculty of Arts.
Dr Colin Layfield - Faculty of ICT -Coherence in the Voynich Manuscript
Professor John Abela - Faculty of ICT -Chat GPT and Machine Sentience
Dr Claudia Borg - Faculty of ICT -Machine Translation in Maltese: Quo Vadis
Professor Richard Muscat - Faculty of Medicine and Surgery -Human Intelligence: Genes, Cells, and Brain Areas
Ms A. K. Lakelett: Yule – Foods and Traditions in Finland - In Finland there are a lot of traditions around Yule, mostly about food, saunas ... and of course gifts brought by Joulupukki on Christmas Eve.
Prof. Paul Sant Cassia:"A children's hoax on adults?" - Some anthropological reflections on Christmas.
Ms Lara Bugeja:"The Abstracted Star" - Best known for his large-scale church paintings, this presentation seeks to explore the Christmas philatelic designs of EV Cremona during the "golden age" of Maltese Stamp Design from the collection held at the Malta Postal Museum.
Dr Philip Ciantar: Strophic Music and Participation in Carol Singing - Participation in carol singing is generally facilitated by the strophic form. The music as structure is equally important for the collective singing of carols - as is the text and the pictures it evokes to build upon and to engage listeners.
E-Lit : Born Digital, Born Interdisciplinary - Clara Chetcuti
Speaker/Author Profiling in Maltese - Amanda Muscat
The Contraceptive Pill - a chemical revolution - Mariella Scerri
FRB Detection using Machine Learning Algorithms - Anastasia Seifert
A linguistic analysis of the form and function of online hate speech in Malta - Rebecca Vella Muskat
When Biomedical Science meets Space Science - Professor Joseph J. Borg
The New Neolithic Discoveries at Tas-Silġ - Mr David Cardona, Curator, Heritage Malta
Book Presentation on his recent publication We Went to the Moon, Kite Books 2021 regarding the first Moon Landing from a Malta point of view - Dr Gordon Caruana Dingli
What are Algorithms? And how are they Different to Conventional Algorithms? - Professor John Abela
Guido Lanfranco: His Life and Work - Dr Sandro Lanfranco
Symbiotic-parasitic relationship promoting evolutionary change - Dr. Sandro Lanfranco
Socio-biological factors & infection in science fiction – Prof. Victor Grech
As below, so above: decentralised systems, infectious and malicious actors, and the common good – Dr. Joshua Ellul
Visual/Aural 'Unquietness': Viral Outbreaks on Screen - Prof. Gloria Lauri Lucente
The Neapolitan Presepe: Popular Culture, Fine Art – K. Sciberras
Dreaming of an AI Christmas – C. Debono
The war with your Card starts with ‘Merry Christmas’ – E. Said
From the North Pole to North Oxford: Tolkien's Father Christmas Letters – P. Vassallo
A trip to Diabesityland: the Father Christmas tale – S. Cuschieri
IN COMMEMORATION: Tessie Camilleri and Blanche Huber - the first two women admitted to university studies in Malta – P. Camilleri
Is it that true that education not only takes women forward, but educated women take society forward? – E. Coombs
Maltese women in academia: Has the glass ceiling cracked? – L. Sciriha
IN CONVERSATION with the Registrar – V. Grech
Through the looking glass: transformative education and contested spaces – B. Murphy
Hors Concours: Women and Higher Education - Introducing the Exhibition – R. Vella
IN CONCLUSION: 100 years of women at the University of Malta: past achievements, future challenges – C. Sammut
The Sette Giugno: perception and perspective – D. Fenech
The 1958 riots in Malta: teaching silenced history in Maltese school classrooms – Y. Vella
“Viva el rey y muera el mal gobierno” (Long live the King and Death to bad Government). The Insurrection of Tupac Amaru II – C. Vassallo
Digital Platforms. At the service of insurgents and peddlers of surveillance capitalism - A Grech
The press and insurrection: From fake news to controlled news and back again – M. Edge
Civil unrest and the economic motive – P. von Brockdorff
I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas ... The Story of the Snowflake – E. Brejza
A Treat not a Truce: World War II Christmas Dos at Kalafrana – J.A. Schembri
Festive Flora and Fauna - D. Dandria
Documenting Christmas: The Cultural Documentation of the Yuletide Season – M. Kosciejew
Christmas in Hospital: A Time of Good Cheer – M. Scerri
The Poetic Writings of Maltese Physicians: A Prescription for Christmas – A. Fiorini
World War I: Fumbling for a Meaning – D. Fenech
World War I: Effects on progress in Medical Science – C. Savona Ventura
“Lest we Forget”: The Illusion of the Great War on Celluloid – G. Lauri Lucente
European Literary Modernism and the Great War: The Experience of Robert Musil and Robert Walser – I. Callus
No Comic Matter: Technology in the Great War as depicted by Four Graphic Novel Authors – J.C. Betts
Beating (chemical) ploughshares into swords: How World War I influenced the fate of artificial nitrogen fixation – A.J. Vella
Viscum, Virgins, and Valentine's: why sex exists – S. Lanfranco
Plonk at the London National Gallery – V.E. Grech & L. Said
Speed, prestezza and artistic virtuosity - K. Sciberras
2 Billion Drones for Santa Claus - J.C. Betts
The first Christmas: fact and fiction - J. Friggieri
Giovan Francesco Buonamico (1639-1680): mill-poeżija sal-botanika, u ftit aktar - B. Micallef & E. Lanfranco
Introduction: Women and Work: A few words from Virginia Woolf – C. Vassallo
Women Inventors and Women in the World of Science - E. Portanier Brejza
Marriage Alliances for the Sake of Art: The Case of Renaissance Messina (Sicily) - C. Vella
Determination of Gender - C. Savona Ventura
On the Vocation of Women – C. Galea
Women in the Bible: With Special Reference to the Hebrew Bible – A. Frendo
Would I Rather be a Girl than a Cyborg? On Monstrous Dolls and the Possibility of TechnoFeminism – M. Theuma
The Star – V.E. Grech & I. Callus
Angels on Horseback - M. Gera
The Neapolitan crib: God in man's image? – A. Borg
Naughty or Nice? Can you remember who you are? – G. Fenech
The Heavens at Christmas - G. Caruana Dingli
Christmas and Comedy - K. Bonello
Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh – E. Sinagra
The Battle of Trafalgar and Death of Nelson – D. Fenech & J. Cacciottolo
Spirit of Trafalgar – E. Sinagra
The other Horatio Nelson – P. Vassallo
Wither weather? ...and climate? Atmospheric geographies as they conditioned naval strategy at Trafalgar – J. Schembri
Napoleonic Wars, Offshore Surveys and Archaeology - T. Gambin
Food Consumption in 19th Century Malta - C. Cassar
Disease in 19th Century British sailors stationed in Malta - C. Savona Ventura
Diving into the Unknown - where flatulence is of no use - T. Gambin
Reconstructing the Past - B. Ellul
Prescription drugs misuse: a global health challenge affecting women and girls - M. Clarke
Medicine makers and dispensers in Malta: three centuries ago - I. Grima
A journey into tomorrow's pharmacy - M. Cordina
Chemists at war - E. Sinagra
Music and cardiovascular disease – R. Sciberras:
Bright Molecules with Sense and Logic – D.C. Magri
The journey from Charity to Rights – V. Gauci
Clocks though the ages: from irrelevance to a profound scientific art form – S. Attard Montalto
Copy or Authentic? Gold ring from the National Museum of Archaeology, Valletta, Malta – D. Vella
Politics of the Breast – J. Cacciottolo
Ink – E. Sinagra
Prophylactics – J. Cacciottolo
Cement – J. Camilleri
Adverts – V.E. Grech
Pots – P. Camilleri
Wine – L. Said
Writers in quarantine – P. Vassallo
Adoptions – S. Attard Montalto
Travels in Prague – M. Darmanin
How plants travel – S. Lanfranco
GPS – P. Zammit
Avian migration – L. Cassar
The pains of travelling – C. Falzon
Discourse on travel in neuroscience – J. Sultana
Flying women – C. Savona-Ventura
Changing depictions of Santa Claus in science fiction magazines and superhero comic book covers – V.E. Grech
It’s the end of the world as we know it? – J. Lauri
Christmas Spirit – J. Cacciattolo
Not your Ordinary Doctor: From Scalpels to Scales - A Gift for Christmas. – M. Frendo
Christmas – a pagan festival? – E. Sinagra
The Star of Bethlehem: Scientific fact? Narrative theology, or both? - A. Frendo
The Might of Healing Springs: Writing, Health and Disease in Shelley (and Mary Shelley) – M. O’Neil
Feminisation and the Maltese Medical Profession -J. Cacciottolo, C. Vassallo & G. Martin
The Changing Faces of Future Doctors: Reflections of Contemporary Prospective Patients in Star Trek over Four Decades – V.E. Grech
A Gynaecologist Looks at the Torah – C. Savona Ventura
After Posthumanism: Medicine and Twenty-First Century Literature – I. Callus
Beam me out Scottie! - An alternative to Caesarean Section – V.E. Grech & C. Savona Ventura
Defining Woman in Medical Discourse and Science Fiction - C. Vassallo
The Pinocchio Syndrome and the Prosthetic Impulse – V.E. Grech
On Flesh and Prosthesis – V. Sultana
The Medical effects of space travel: myths and facts – G. Caruana Dingli
The Discourse of Doctor‐Patient Encounters ‐ A Sociolinguistic Perspective – L. Scriha
The accoucheur looks at the Torah – C. Savona‐Ventura
Persons with M.E. in Malta. Between critical realism and social constructivism – M. Brown & M. Briguglio
Epilepsy: the falling sickness in literature and in the movies – J. Mifsud
The face: an overlap of science and art – J. Cacciottolo
Art and arthritis – C. Mallia
Translating Medical Terms into Maltese: Practice or Theory? – C. Briffa
Languages and evolution: the family tree and historical stratification – J. Brincat
Childhood Obesity in Malta: a sociological perspective – G. Martin
Hospitallers: Healing the Body, Healing the Soul, c.1580‐c.1700 – E. Buttigieg
Processes in Clinical Reasoning – A. Felice
Image‐based technique in a mind‐body medicine approach and linking it to Asclepian dream incubation healing methods of Ancient Greece – L. Cassar
Bipedalism and Obstetrics – an Exercise in Darwinian Evolutionary Medicine – Y. Muscat Baron
Eros, Thanatos and the Inception of Psychoanalysis. The Case of Sabina Spielrein, Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud in the Filmic Versions of Roberto Faenza and David Cronenberg – G. Lauri Lucente
Life after Posthumans: Some Reflections on Recent Scholarship at the Humanities‐Medical Sciences Interface – I. Callus