Planning in education : local school buildings

A paper by Dr. Edwin Mintoff edited from a study by Alexander Borg, Christopher Borg, and Victor Sladden. This study formed part of a thesis project presented in 1993/1994 in partial fulfillment of the degree leading to B.E & A (Hons.) in the Urban Design Stream which Dr. Mintoff co-ordinates.peer-reviewe

The Maltese Presidency of the European Union 2017. ZEI Discussion Paper C 244/2017

Every Presidency of the European Union seeks to leave its own mark in one way or another on one or more particular facets of the evolving process of the European Union. This becomes even more important for a Member State who, like my own country, Malta, has been at the helm for the first time. In my view, the three most prominent aspects of the Maltese Presidency are the setting out of a joint vision for the European Union for the years to come; the formal commencement of the Brexit process; and the particular focus on the EU’s Mediterranean Policy. This paper seeks to address these three matters by first having a look at what happened during the six months’ term of the Maltese Presidency and then by expressing my views on the results achieved and on the way forward

Developing a theme in social studies : an alternative approach

The Council of Europe in its documents on the place of History in Secondary schools, states that 'the teacher who stands in front of the class with a chalk is almost soundly condemned as the teacher who uses the stick'. The statement, directed to teachers who still insist on boring their students by chalking and talking, leaves no room for interpretation. It is direct and clear, emphasizing that: beyond the world of soar throats and chalky air there is a wealth of resources that can inject interest and curiosity, make possible variation of teaching methods, provide stimuli for the fantasy world of students, acquaint students with research techniques, make it easier for students to pursue self-instruction, show the relation of previously isolated facts, relate abstract generalisations with realistic details and, above all, add clarity and precision to the way the lesson is presented.peer-reviewe

Webcast courses in Medical Genetics and next generation sequencing

The European School of Genetic Medicine organised the 26th Course in Medical Genetics and the 2nd Course in Next Generation Sequencing, between the 12th and 20th May 2013. Both courses were webcast live from the Bologna University Residential Centre, Bertinoro, Italy. Participants in Malta attended these courses at the University’s Medical School. The course in Medical Genetics covered various aspects of this rapidly developing field of Medicine. The different methodologies used in human genome analysis, an introduction to Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), approaches to clinical and molecular genetics, complex genetic disorders, therapy and gene regulation, were covered. The second course provided a comprehensive insight into NGS technologies, from the basics to the new world of disease gene identification by hand-held devices. It also covered insights into bioinformatics challenges, sample preservation and trans-omic studies, and new frontiers including the investigation of single cells and of the non-coding genome.peer-reviewe

Screening for coronary heart disease

Malta and the United Kingdom share the dubious distinction of being among the three countries with the highest mortality rate from Cardiovascular disease in Europe; other countries in the Mediterranean basin have much lower rates. This presentation deals with a screening clinic for men carried out in the English West Country market town of Cirencester (population 16,000). The aim is a mass assault on risk factors for coronary heart disease, and results at the end of the first year suggest that, given sufficient opportunity and information, people are willing to be screened and to alter their lifestyle to reduce their level of risk of developing coronary disease.peer-reviewe

Myth and history in Commonwealth literature

The author's interest in Commonwealth Literature is grounded in a concern about the place of English in post-colonial Malta. The writing of those who have been, like the Maltese, through the process of renegotiating their identity through and beyond Independence is of particular interest to our students. In addition, the fact that the author teaches English Colonial, Australian and African Literature within the Department of English has shown her how quick Maltese students are to grasp different aspects of identity construction in the work of these writers. An exploration of myth and history in Commonwealth Literature showed that the traditional European opposition between mythological thought and historic vision was untenable vis-a-vis the writer's practice in Africa, Australia and other Commonwealth countries. Writers such as Chinua Achebe, Ayi Kwei Armah, Wole Soyinka, Patrick White and Randolph Stow often show a mythopoeic sensibility as well as political consciousness. Such writers utilise myth but do not allow their novels to move outside a time referent. They project indigenous religions with their gods and rituals but remain grounded in their society's actual situation, which they are fully committed to ameliorate.peer-reviewe

The Oedipus and Electra Complex in Italian literature of the late 19th century

As Ellen Key outlined in 1900, the 20th century centred on the child and literary theory started analysing texts from a Freudian and Jungian perspective. Italian narrative texts from various authors of the late 19th century assert the Oedipus complex theory where the child’s obsession with the mother deems the father a rival insofar as he exemplifies castration. Authors such as Luigi Capuana, Edmondo De Amicis and Carlo Dossi express this fear of losing the mother in autobiographical works which denote their seduction by the preferred parent. Certain literary characters such as Pinocchio or Rosso Malpelo lack this sense of security the mother provides; hence, they survive by substituting the biological mother with the fairy godmother or, as in Malpelo’s case, by exalting the father figure with whom he identifies. The Electra complex, the girl’s psychosexual competition with her mother for possession of the father, is prominent in Sibilla Aleramo’s confession of her childhood obsession for the father. This psychoanalytical approach developed later in the 20th century because, as Luce Irigaray states, the daughter has always occupied a marginal role in society. Sometimes the mother manifests ambiguous behaviour (Gli spostati and Tortura) given that she no longer feels obliged by nature to love her offspring. As a popular saying goes, “the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world” and these literary works epitomise the sheer significance of the parent-figure with respect to the child’s psychological and social well-being.peer-reviewe

Milied it-tajjeb

Ġabra ta’ poeżiji u proża li tinkludi: Imħabba taħt siġra ta’ V. Caruana – L-isptar tal-Gwardamanġa ta’ P. Mattew – Lourdes – il-Belt tal-Madonna ta’ Ġużè Chetcuti – Ja iblah, ma temminx? ta’ John C. Friggieri – Ħolma ta’ A. Cremona – Il-Milied it-tajjeb ta’ Ġużè Borg Pantalleresco.peer-reviewe