THE
LUMINARY
UNIVERSIT Y OF MALTA ALUMNI NEWSLET TER
www.um.edu.mt/alumni
NOVEMBER 2014
Convocation for the Conferment
of Honorary Degrees
On the 21 November 2014 the University of Malta
held a Convocation for the Conferment of the Degree
of Doctor of Literature (Honoris Causa) on Professor
Jeremy Boissevain and the Conferment of the Degree
of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) on Professor
William H. Bannister at the Church of the University,
Merchants Street Valletta.
William H. Bannister completed his medical
undergraduate studies at the University of Malta as the
top student in his cohort before becoming a Rhodes
Scholar at the University of Oxford. There he pursued
his Doctoral studies in the field of Biochemistry within
the Radcliff Infirmary.
He was responsible for maintaining the Department
of Physiology and Biochemistry as an important entity
within the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery over the
years. His contribution in his scientific field has been
recognised internationally through many significant
papers published in high impact journals.
Jeremy Boissevain is Emeritus Professor of Social
Anthropology at the Amsterdam School for Social
Science Research (University of Amsterdam). Professor
Boissevain read for his Ph.D. at the London School of
Economics, graduating in 1962. He has subsequently
taught at the Universities of Montreal, Sussex, Malta,
New York (Stony Brook),
Massachusetts (Amherst), Columbia University and
the Jagiellonian University in Cracow.
His books and co-edited works include Saints and
Fireworks: Religion and Politics in Rural Malta (1965,
1993); Hal-Farrug: A Village in Malta (1969); The Italians
of Montreal (1970); Friends of Friends: Networks,
Manipulators and Coalitions (1974); Beyond the
Community (editor, 1975); Ethnic Challenge CONT>
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(editor, 1984); Revitalizing European Rituals (editor,
1992); Coping with Tourists: European Reactions to
Mass Tourism (1996); Factions, Friends and Feasts:
Anthropological Perspectives on the Mediterranean (2013). Translations of his work have appeared in Dutch,
French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Japanese and Maltese.
Professor Bannister was honoured for his significant
contribution in putting the Department of Physiology in
particular, as well as the University of Malta in general,
on the international academic map. As Professor
Godfrey La Ferla, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
and Surgery and Head of the Department of Surgery
had occasion to say in his Oration, “When William
Bannister became Professor and Head of Department
his industry, his tenaciousness, his capabilities and his
keen sense of direction was recognised by all even in
his early days in the Chair…. However, apart from his
qualities as a teacher, William Bannister on becoming
Professor of Physiology, soon realised the importance
of high quality research for the University to gain an
international standing.”
Professor Boissevain was honoured for his peerless
anthropological research over the course of decades
that shed much light on the intricacies and colour
of Maltese feasts, politics and secular rituals and
whose theoretical work on factions, brokers, and
entrepreneurs helped legitimate the anthropology
of European societies at a crucial time. Professor
Mark Anthony Falzon, Head of the Department
of Sociology, Faculty of Arts, in his Oration on the
occasion paid tribute to Professor Boissevain “as the
doyen of anthropology in Malta [who] used his field
capital to build an empire that includes several books
and scores of articles…. [and who was] the foreign
expert who habilitated festa as an object worthy of
the international scholarship.”
Book donation of
Jim Crace’s works
Agenda Bookshops donated a
complete collection of novels by
the British author Jim Crace to the
Faculty of Arts Library. The books
were presented to the Dean of
the Faculty by Ms Joanne Pace,
Manager of Agenda Bookshop
on Campus. The occasion was the
presence in the Faculty of Arts of
Jim Crace, who is here as Writer in
Residence for several weeks. Ms Pace said that Agenda was
happy to associate themselves
with this occasion and the events
stemming from Mr Crace’s
visit. Professor Dominic Fenech
thanked Ms Pace for her support.
Jim Crace’s next public event
will be a public reading and book
signing, on 4 December 2014 at
the Valletta Campus. Secretary
General of the
Commonwealth
praises
University of
Malta
In an interview that the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Mr Kamalesh Sharma,
gave to The Sunday Times of
Malta, (available here) he referred to work carried out by
the University of Malta.
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Water Conservation – A Universal High Flier
Water Conservation – A Universal High Flier is a pilot
project supported by Malta International Airport plc
which aims to make people more aware of Malta’s
freshwater shortage encouraging households to
make behavioural changes to lower their current
consumption. Through this project a small number of
households will be given water saving devices in the
form of low flow aerators for taps, low flow showers
and toilet tank bags in an attempt to lower their water
consumption. MIA employees are being involved in the
initial phase of the project and the fittings are being
installed in their homes and readings will be taken to
evaluate the consumption variance. It is our common
responsibility to safeguard our freshwater by taking
steps to use this resource sustainably. This month marks the first project milestone wherein
just over 50 households have been provided with a
tailored supply of water saving devices, free of charge,
on the basis of a water audit of their consumption.
These households have already provided a historical
record of their water consumption and will be reading
their water meters regularly in order to enable the
project researchers, Perit Kevin Gatt and Perit David
Cilia to determine the performance of these fittings.
This work complements research that Perit Gatt and
other colleagues have undertaken in the domestic,
hospitality and education sectors. The next phase of the research study shall involve
comparing the readings taken before and after the
installation of the water saving devices. In doing so,
the potential of water saving, in private households, by
means of installing such fittings will be determined. In the meantime, the project is still open to interested
households who wish to join this study to register their
interest by emailing us on universalhighflier@gmail.com
Interpreting Legends in the 21st Century
A group of Junior College students accompanied by their
lecturers, recently visited Stockton Sixth Form College in
the UK, as part of an EU project under the Lifelong Learning
Programme entitled ‘Ancient Wisdom – Lessons of Life for the
21st Century’. Together with their German, Italian and British counterparts,
the students worked on various tasks, experimenting with
innovative technology and methods. They participated in
a ‘film trailer-making’ workshop and produced their own
trailer depicting their interpretation of the Maltese legend IlMaqluba in a modern day context. The project took students through a journey of exploring
national legends and their relevance in today’s society whilst
reflecting on their national identity.
This newsletter is published by the Communications and Alumni
Relations Office within the University of Malta.
All Rights Reserved 2014