https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/8103 2026-07-27T17:50:47Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148231 Title: The future of Paceville Authors: Billiard Pisani, Elise; Grima, Reuben Abstract: The Future of Paceville examines the rapid spatial, social, legal, and urban transformations of Paceville, Malta, positioning the locality as an urban laboratory and paradigm for the broader Maltese archipelago. Bringing together multi-disciplinary analyses spanning social anthropology, archaeology, legal history, and urban design, the volume critiques the steady erosion of public space, top-down master planning, and the commodification of historic built heritage driven by neoliberal development. The chapters trace Paceville's transition from a sleepy coastal enclave into a nightlife and speculative real-estate hub, exploring themes of legal hybridity, enclavisation, privatised coastlines, civil society resistance, and the critical necessity of participatory democratic governance to protect the common good. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148134 Title: Community and family support for women facing trauma Authors: Desira, Thelma; Cassar, Joanne Abstract: Recovery from traumatic experiences becomes more possible when there are supportive networks operating in communities. This qualitative study explores Maltese women’s experiences of family and community support (CS), as they faced trauma. The inquiry sought to find out the mechanisms of this kind of support, and the significance these held for such women. Data was collected through semi-structured individual interviews with 7 Maltese women living in Malta, aged between 27-55 years, who self- identified as having faced traumatic events. They were asked about the types of support they sought, when they faced adversity. The study brings together the person-al, familial, and communitarian aspects of support strategies for women facing tragic events, and the interplay between them. Data were organised and analysed through reflexive thematic analysis, in order to find out how the different forms of CS acted as a safety net for vulnerable women facing traumatic loss and adversity in their lives. The results show that in general the participants welcomed the CS received, and valued the specialised services offered to them, which varied ac- cording to the type of crisis they passed through. The informants distinguished between community efforts that were supportive to them and others which were not. The study indicates that women facing trauma might rely more heavily on seeking professional help, rather than talking to their neighbours about their afflictions. This points towards more reliance on institutionalisation, and professionalisation of care, and indicates a corresponding decline in reliance on informal, communal, and kin-based support networks for addressing personal and family trauma. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148018 Title: Beyond binaries : non-heteronormative vignettes in school workbooks Authors: Cassar, Joanne Abstract: The use of vignettes in school workbooks is usually intended to provide an effective way for students to think about real-life situations or historical events, and better understand their significance. This paper presents a study that outlines a content analysis of vignettes that are part of three workbooks, which are currently being used in secondary schools in Malta for the subject Personal, Social and Career Development for students aged 14-16 years. In particular, the study focuses on vignettes that are not heteronormative and pays attention to how LGBTQI+ individuals are portrayed or made absent within the brief narratives. The vignettes selected for the study, depict examples of life situations, aimed as a reflexive tool for students to discuss issues revolving around dating, connection, sexual consent, harassment and sexting among others. These situations often imply some kind of decision making that involves a transition, such as experiencing sex for the first time or initiating casual sex. The study shows that non-heteronormative vignettes are well-represented in the corpus of the workbooks’ vignettes. The study argues that vignettes could be useful in linking abstract and complex concepts associated with intimate relationships, sexuality and love with tangible experiences. Their use could also facilitate reflexivity through classroom discussion about the narratives depicting particular scenarios and situations. The study posits that school workbooks could be an effective tool for students to gain more self-awareness. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147776 Title: The prehistoric islandscape Authors: Grima, Reuben Abstract: The story of discovery, exploitation and settlement of small islands by humans is impossible to separate from that of the exploration, and to some extent the mastery, of the seas around them. The group of islands that form Malta was no exception. By the time the first known Neolithic inhabitants were settled in Malta, sometime around 5,000 BC, rising sea-levels had already given the Maltese archipelago a configuration not very different from the one we know today. Over the preceding 10,000 years or so, progressive warming and the consequent melting of the ice-caps had resulted in dramatic rises in sea-level, which flooded vast areas between Malta and Sicily, widening the channel between the two to almost the width we are familiar with today. Although no firm evidence has yet been found of human presence on Malta during this earlier period, it is well-attested in Sicily, and the possibility that communities that hunted, gathered, fished and foraged reached Malta during this time of rapid sea-level change remains a plausible one. Here the story is taken up from shortly before 5,000 BC, with the first firm evidence of human settlement of the Maltese islands. [extract] 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z