Alongside its many courses and regular publications, the Malta Classics Association is also committed to reaching out to the academic community and the general public at large by means of public lectures about a variety of different classics-related subjects throughout the year. Since its foundation in 2011, the MCA has used these public lectures to highlight the interconnectivity of Classics with a host of other subjects, including Medicine, Philosophy, Archaeology and History. For an idea of the kind of lectures that the MCA has organised in the past and hopes to organise in the future, browse the list below. To keep yourself updated about our future events, follow this website or our Facebook page, or register as a full MCA member to receive regular updates in your inbox.

Public Lectures in 2024

Please find below the list of this year’s past and upcoming public lectures. Click on the link to access the recording for past lecture and Zoom room.
– 12th March: Transitioning and Transforming Female Character Conventions in Plutarch’s Life of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus by Dr Lien Van Geel (Columbia University)
– 9th April: Reception and Practical Use of Ancient Letter Collections in Durham Cathedral Priory (1090-1540)  by Dr Lucas Matheus Caminiti Amaya (Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro/Durham University)
– 26th April: Joseph Demarco: a Maltese Physician and Intellectual in the 18th Century by Skye Vassallo
– 14th May: Liberty Revisited: Virgil and the Transformation of Roman Libertas by Prof. Fabio Tutrone (Universita degli Studi di Palermo) 
– 11th June: In Defence of Jason Against Medea by Andreas Prasinos (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)
– 9th July: Cum Timore Dei: Fear of Divinity in the Greco-Roman World by Dr Despona Iosif 
– 13th August: The Minotaur is always Monster: Utilising the Minotaur’s Portrayal in Children’s Picturebooks to understand Monsters by Jessica X Alexander (University of Virginia)
– 10th September: Sweet Home, Salamis: The Theme of Nostos in Sophocles’ Teucer by Dr Zoe Kalamara (University of Thessaloniki)
– 8th October: The Religious Vocabulary in the Plutarch’s Moralia by Dr Adamantia Katsoula (University of the Peloponnese)
– 1st November: The Absent Odysseus in Louise Glück’s Meadowlands by Andrew Debono Cauchi (University of Malta)
– 12th November: Cato’s Community in the Origines: between Ethnicity and Communication by Lorenzo Serino (University of Molise)
– 29th November @7pm: Latin in Malta in 1924: a Hot Potato by Dr Carmel Serracino (University of Malta), to be organised in person at the Department of Classics and Archaeology.
– 10th December @7pm: Voicing “the Other”: from Polemo’s Physiognomy to Chinua Achebe by Prof. Eleni Bozia (University of Florida)

Public Lectures in 2023

– 4th January – Decentering Europe Two Ways: Swimming and the Slave Trade in Classical Antiquity by Prof. Karen Carr.
– 28 April – Book 10 of Pliny’s Epistles: An Edited Account of Ideal Governance by Dr. Matthew Mordue.
– 19 May – Melite Civitas: an Ongoing Archaeological Investigation by Dr David Cardina.

Public Lectures in 2022

– 1st April – Civil Strife as the Foundation of Classical Greek Political Thought by Francois Zammit.
– 9th March – Ancient Greek Mathematicians by Andrew Debono Cauchi, organised in collaboration with the Malta Mathematical Society. Held at the University of Malta.
– 15th July – Church Crisis: Documents Missing, Misplaced or Misconducted? by Prof. Horatio C.R. Vella. Held at the Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta.
– 28th October – Fashioning Socrates: The Sage, the Fool, and the Octopus. by Prof. Jean-Paul de Lucca as part of the MAPL Series. Held at the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta.
– 11th November – Golden Mummies of Egypt: Death and the Afterlife in Graeco-Roman Egypt by Dr Campbell Price.

Public Lectures in 2021

– 9th April – An Introduction to the Bishop’s Tribunal by Rev. Fr. Nicholas J. Doublet.
– 23th April – The Emergence of Dower in Late Antique Roman Law by Samuel Azzopardi.
– 16th July – The Sacred Numbers by Prof. Horatio C.R. Vella.
– 5th November – Ancient Greek Tragedy as Performance by Dr Mario Frendo. Held at the Carmelite Convent in Mdina.

Public Lectures in 2020

– 27th February – The Ancient Mediterranean Calendar by Prof. Horatio C.R. Vella.

Public Lectures in 2019

– 16th May Ritual Purity in the Correspondence between Gregory the Great and Augustine of Canterbury by Rev. Prof. Hector Scerri.
– 16th July – The Sacred Numbers by Prof. Horatio C.R. Vella.
– 7th December – The Greeks and Romans in Malta by Prof. Horatio C.R. Vella.

Public Lectures in 2018

– 26th October – The First Annual Malta Plato Lecture Series (MAPL) by Prof. Joe Friggieri.
– 16th November – “Bhasa” by Prof. Michael Zammit.
– 7th December – He Alone in Homer and Vergil’s Aeneid by Prof. Horatio C.R. Vella.

Public Lectures in 2017

– 20th January – The Labyrinth by Prof. Schoonhoven
– 7th December – Pursuit, Flight and Frigidity – Ovid’s Myth of Apollo and Daphne by Prof. Gloria Lauri Lucente

Public Lectures in 2016

– 13th May – Thomas More and the Transmission of Cicero’s De Legibus by Dr Jean-Paul De Lucca
– 10th June – Our Common Ancestors by Prof. Horatio Vella
– 8th July – From Wine to Olive Oil: excavations Conducted at the Roman Villa Site at Zejtun by the University of Malta, 2006-2014 by Prof. Nicholas Vella
– 29th October – The Metaphysics of Light by Prof. Michael Zammit
– 7th December – Christianity in Homer and Vergil by Prof. Horatio Vella

Public Lectures in 2015

– 20th March – The Serpent, the Moon and the Underworld by Prof. Horatio Vella
– 29th May – The relevance of the Classics Today by Dr Biagio Vella
– 7 December – a public lecture by Dr Dennis Mizzi

Public Lectures in 2014

– 17th January – Mount Athos by Dr Zammit
– 9th March – The Classics in Biological Nomenclature by Prof. Lanfranco

Public Lectures in 2013

– 18th January – Plato’s Republic – A Book for all Seasons by Prof. Joe Friggieri
– 22nd February – The Descent into Hades: Orpheus, Odysseus and Aeneas by Prof. Peter Vassallo
– 19th March – Hollywood and Rome by Prof. Stephen Harrison
– 13th March – Socrates’ Great Palinode: A Discussion by Dr Jurgen Gatt
– 12th April – Ancient Astronomy by Prof. Ventura

Public Lectures in 2012

– 17th February – The Archaeological Relevance of Petronius – Some Reflections by Prof. Anthony Bonanno
– 27th April – The Eutyphro by Dr Jurgen Gatt
– 21st August – The Name of Gozo by Prof. Horatio C.R. Vella
– 12th October – a public lecture relating to Marine Archaeology by Dr Timmy Gambin

Public Lectures in 2011

– 21st February – Trinachia: the Island of Malta by Prof. Horatio C.R. Vella
– 3rd May – The Persephone Myth in Literature by Prof. Peter Vassallo
– 6th September – Music and Emotion In Ancient Greece and China by Prof David E. Cooper
– 14th October – The Greek Element in Maltese Culture by Prof. Stanley Fiorini
– 25th November – a public lecture by Prof. Peter Vassallo