| CODE | DST5217 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Bridging Cultural, Social and Political Divides | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Centre for the Study and Practice of Conflict Resolution | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit looks at the contested issue of migration, which constitutes a key driver of intergroup conflict in many countries worldwide. It starts by looking at the psychological determinants of migration that prod some people to move to other countries. It proceeds to examine issues pertaining to the challenge posed by migrants and how these fuel conflict and polarisation in democratic jurisdictions. The study-unit details an empirical strategy for studying and charting the intergroup divide, which opens up possibilities for reconciliation based on the identification of common ground. Study-Unit Aims: - Allow students the opportunity to explore research and interventions targeting real world conflict. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Students learn to develop practical research skills that are necessary to devise conflict resolution projects; - Students will learn to utilise a grounded empirical procedure that serves to identify commensurate beliefs and practices across a conflict divide. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Students will learn to analyse what impediments exist to conflict resolution and to identify potential for reconciliation; - Students are able to propose a strategy for researching and analysing conflicting perspectives. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Sammut, G. (2025). The New Challenge of Migration: Bridging Social and Cultural Divides. Progressive Psychology Series. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. - Sammut, G., & Bauer, M.W. (2021). The Psychology of Social Influence: Modes and Modalities of shifting common sense. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. - Buhagiar, L.J., & Sammut, G. (2020). 鈥楽ocial Re-presentation for鈥︹��: An action-oriented formula for intergroup relations research. Frontiers in Psychology, doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00352. - Buhagiar, L.J., & Sammut, G. (2023). The Minimal Model of Argumentation: Qualitative data analysis for epistemic speech, text and policy. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour. doi: 10.1111/jtsb.12382. - Sammut, G. (2022). Bridging borders: Migration and its vicissitudes. International Journal of Psychoanalysis and Education: Subject, Action and Society, 2(2), 41-53. https://doi.org/10.32111/SAS.2022.2.2.5. - Buhagiar, L.J., & Sammut, G. (2023). Minority arguments on integration: Arabs in the Southern European State of Malta. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 33(6), 1381-1397. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2741. - Buhagiar, L.J., Sammut, G., Rochira, A., & Salvatore, S. (2018). There鈥檚 no such thing as a good Arab: Cultural essentialism and its functions concerning the integration of Arabs in Europe. Culture & Psychology, 24(4), 560-576. - Sammut, G., Jovchelovitch, S., Buhagiar, L.J., Veltri, G.A., Redd, R., & Salvatore, S. (2018). Arabs in Europe: Arguments for and against integration. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 24(4), 398-406. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | The University of Malta is responsible for this study-unit. | ||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Gordon Sammut |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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