© Maria Teresa Agozzino

Taking Malta out of the Box

Island Cultures, Economies, and Identities

11—15 May 2011, Malta

Malta may be small, but with a history featuring the Greeks, Phoenicians, Carthaginians,  Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Knights of St John, and British, its heritage is monumental.

Located at the heart of the Mediterranean, the Maltese archipelago is a bustling microstate. The islands’ official languages are English and Maltese, a descendent of Medieval Arabic. Malta’s package tourism industry thrives on the islands’ sunny, beautiful scenery, which forms the backdrop to countless heritage attractions, including three UNESCO World Heritage Sites. From megalithic temples to Baroque bastions, from paleochristian catacombs to Medieval cityscapes, Malta is a culture lover’s paradise.

At Taking Malta out of the Box, academics, politicians, civil servants, and businesspeople will cross sectors and disciplines to explore islands, past and present, in Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, and worldwide. The event’s theme addresses how the identities of maritime communities and geographical and cultural islands develop alongside their cultures and economies. Henry Glassie, Godfrey Baldacchino, and David Lowenthal will be keynote speakers.

The conference will be held at Hotel Phoenicia, just outside the city of Valletta. If you would like to make a presentation at Taking Malta out of the Box, see  the call for papers. Papers on all island, coastal, and maritime topics are welcome, particularly on comparative island studies. The deadline for all abstracts is 1 September 2010.

Taking Malta out of the Box is a collaboration of:

Islands & Small States Institute, University of Malta

Center for Cyprus Studies, Eastern Mediterranean University

The Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen

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