Faculty for Social Wellbeing
Research, Publications and Scholarship Committee
Imperia Calling Freud:
How narratives from the past help us understand the present
by Mr Alexander Farrugia
Abstract
What relevance has the story of a seventeenth century courtesan to a twenty-first century audience? In an academic climate, where universities are investing less in the Humanities, what is the relevance that History retains to inform the social sciences? What challenges does it pose?
History is about narratives and context; time and space. It challenges the underlying notion that the concepts we use daily as much as those adopted by the academic are in some way universal and resistant to the age and culture that construct them. This challenge is particularly significant to the practitioner in the area of social wellbeing. It becomes crucial for the practitioner not only to understand the narratives that make the social reality in which she operates but also to dig deeper to uncover the hidden traces of previous narratives that are still lingering to influence the present. Such a challenge certainly has theoretical and practical implications, which can in turn can make applied social sciences even more dynamic and practically effective, especially in a century of multiple-layered realities which are very fluid and not easily definable.
Mr Alexander Farrugia is a graduate in Philosophy, Theatre Studies, History and Media Studies and is currently reading for his Ph.D. in cultural history. He is advisor to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Education and Employment and is a part-time lecturer at the Department of Youth and Community Studies in the Faculty for Social Wellbeing. He also writes literary works. His latest novel Grasshopper was published in 2016.
Wednesday, 15 February 2017
12:30hrs - 14:00hrs
Room 420 – Humanities B (FEMA Building)
For reservations, kindly contact Ms Lucienne Brincat
Tel: 23403732 / research.fsw@um.edu.mt