Path-Breaking International Masters: Forging a Partnership Between ICAR and the University of Malta
Beginning in October 2010, George Mason University and the University of Malta will offer the first international master’s program in the field of conflict resolution. Students completing the 13-month intensive course at the University of Malta campus will receive a Master of Science in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason and a Master of Arts in Conflict Resolution and Mediterranean Security from the University of Malta.
The dual degree program combines the faculties of two renowned educational institutions: Mason’s Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR), the oldest and largest program of graduate conflict studies in the United States, and Malta’s Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies (MEDAC), which has been offering advanced degrees in diplomacy and has been building bridges between Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East for the past twenty years. ICAR and MEDAC will share teaching responsibilities, and will engage in collaborative research, conferencing, and peacemaking activities.
Students in the program will hail from all over the globe, but most will come from Europe and the Mediterranean, including North Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans. The international master’s requires full-time intensive study for thirteen months, the so-called Bologna Model commonly offered in Europe. The fifteen-course curriculum culminates in a dissertation researched and written by students working under faculty supervision during the summer term.
Malta is a natural location for such an enterprise. Located some 60 miles south of Sicily and 175 miles north of Tunisia, the island republic (which includes the islands of Gozo and Comino) has, for centuries, been a place where civilizations meet and interact. In modern times, the Maltese have been instrumental in helping to negotiate multi-national agreements like the Law of the Sea treaty, and hosting important meetings like the 1989 summit between George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev that ended the Cold War. Recent international conferences have covered vital topics like global climate change, trans-national migration, environmental negotiation, Euro-Med regional development, social capital in practice, and religious perspectives on conflict.
Maltese culture reflects a long history of rule by foreign powers, including the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Sicilians, Aragonese, Fatimids, French, and British (The Maltese gained their independence from Britain in 1962). The language of instruction for the international master’s program will be English, a language spoken by almost all Maltese. The Maltese mother tongue has Arabic roots, and Italian is also widely spoken. Now a member of the European Union, the nation is experiencing a period of rapid economic growth, including the development of high tech industries, and is becoming an important center for international education.
Malta is a densely populated place with some 400,000 people inhabiting 123 square miles of land. Most Maltese are Roman Catholics, and are famous for their religious interests and popular festivals. They are also home to a number of World Heritage Sites, including seven megalithic temples dating from 3500 B.C. — the largest and most important collection in Europe — and the fortified capital of Valletta, a remarkable collection of 16th and 17th century urban buildings erected after the Ottoman invasion of 1565. Maltese politics are lively and occasionally intense, with the Nationalist Party (currently in power) vying with Labour for control of the Parliament and administration.
The establishment of the international master’s program with Malta represents the fulfillment of plans nurtured by George Mason and ICAR to make their programs available to students outside the US, to work closely with international colleagues, and to participate in global education.