The Junior College Multi-Disciplinary Conference: Research, Practice and Collaboration
“Breaking Barriers”
18-20th Sep 2018

1. Conference venue and dates
Ġ.F. Abela Junior College, Ġużè Debono Square, Msida
MSD 1252, Malta
Tel +356 2590 7244 Fax +356 21 243036
Email: mdconf.jc@um.edu.mt


Tuesday 18 September 2018
Wednesday 19 September 2018
Thursday 20 September 2018

Submissions Deadlines
Paper proposal and bio-note: 30 June 2018
Full paper and abstract for publication in online proceedings: 31 August 2018

Registration and Payment
Early Bird registration and payment: 30 July 2018
Late registration and payment: 31 August 2018

2. Conference Topics and Call for Papers
This multi-disciplinary conference encourages learning through difference, and particularly this year, through the breaking or affirming of paradigms in the following areas of study: the social, natural and human sciences; arts and the humanities; education; business; technology and the environment.
All the great scientific discoveries and critical theories in these subject areas have encouraged out-of-the-box thinking; they have helped enrich our own reasoning; they have contributed to the expansion of each other’s viewpoints. Hence, breaking down barriers, becomes not only an individual activity, but also a collective one. Many scholars and practitioners today appear to depart from traditional research intent on feeding one’s own particular discipline; many try to engage in multi-disciplinary projects addressing the broader questions raised by society. In essence, many scholars are often seeking answers to questions that lie beyond the confines of their own discipline, thus breaking traditional barriers and reaching new grounds.
In an era of change, we are obliged to ask ourselves which are the discoveries, concepts or theories that have changed perspectives, challenged stereotypes, and illuminated issues. The multi-disciplinary nature of breaking down barriers can thus provide us with a universal language that breaks down cultural differences allowing us to peer through the prejudices that separate us as different ethnicities, different nationalities, and different religions. The exercise of breaking down barriers could thus be utilised to form more inclusive and more tolerant identities in our societies.
We call for papers that look into the theme of “Breaking Barriers” in the following areas:
• Education
o Education in Society
o Education for Social Justice
o Education and Employability
o Differentiated and Inclusive Education
o E-learning, Digital Literacy and ICT in Education
o Multi-Ethnicity and Multilingualism in Maltese classrooms
o Curriculum Development and Education Policy
o Hyper-Textuality and Learning in Literature
o The Crisis of Foreign Language Learning in Malta
o Non-Verbal Communication Strategies and Pragmatic Competence in Language Learning
o Science Education
o Art Education
o Physical Education
o Health Education
o Business Education
• The Social, Natural and Human Sciences
o The Social Sciences
o Diversity, Inclusion and Gender studies
o Science and the Humanities
o Theory and Practice in Science
o Discoveries and Breakthroughs in Science
o De-fragmenting the Scientific Borders
o Unlocking the Entrepreneurial Potential of Scientists
• Arts and the Humanities
o Language(s)
o Literature(s)
o Translation
o The Crisis of the Humanities
• Business and IT
o The Economy, Sustainable Development and Socio-Economic Justice
o The Dynamic Business World
o Artificial Intelligence (AI)
o High Quality Data and Advanced AI Algorithms
o Blockchain Revolution
o Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
o Law and Marketing Ethics
o Balancing Financial, Social and Environmental Obligations
o Crypto Currencies
o Past, present and emerging technologies and devices that enhance ICT
o Cloud-based Computing
o Outsourcing and key processes in a Supply Chain paradigm
o Digital threats due to the Computerization of Business Processes (Cyber Threats, Ransom Ware)
o Big Data and Data Mining
o Digital Forensics and Contemporary IT needs
o I-gaming

3. Pre-Conference Academic Activities
This year our academic event shall be hosting two separate pre-conference events: a Philosophy symposium and a Physics workshop which shall be addressing specialised issues pertaining to the disciplines such as Ontology and the didactics of Physics. These shall be held on the 17th Sep 2018 at the same venue of the conference. Further details on themes and speakers shall be announced in the future.

3.1. Pre-conference Physics Workshop
Date: 17th Sep 2018
Workshop keynote speaker: Prof. Marisa Michelini (Udine)
More details to be announced later.

3.2. Pre-conference Philosophy Symposium
Date: 17th Sep 2018
Symposium keynote speaker: Prof. Maurizio Ferraris (Torino)
More details to be announced later.

4. Submission of Paper Proposal and Bio-Note
Those interested in contributing to the 2018 edition of The Junior College Multi-Disciplinary Conference: Research, Practice and Collaboration are kindly requested to submit in English a title, a paper proposal (200 words) and a bio-note (125 words) by email (mdconf.jc@um.edu.mt). The deadline for this submission is the 30th June 2018. All submissions will be reviewed. Selection for inclusion in the conference programme will be based on quality, originality and relevance, in the judgement of the review process. It is assumed that every submission shall be the original work of the author and has not been already published elsewhere.
The working language of this international conference shall be English, but if a sufficient number of participants request that they present their work in a language other than English, the Conference Committee would be ready to consider forming a specialised language panel for them.

Submission of Full Paper and an Abstract. Those interested in publishing their paper for inclusion in the online pdf format of the proceedings must kindly submit their full paper (max. 3,500 words) and an abstract of it (max. 350 words) by the 31st August 2018. All submissions must be submitted electronically by sending an email (mdconf.jc@um.edu.mt). The referencing style used for the proceedings is the Harvard style (cfr: http://www.otago.ac.nz/library/pdf/Harvard_referencing.pdf). Endnotes, bibliography or further reading recommendations are not allowed. All references are to be included in the footnotes. Kindly use Times New Roman font 12 with single line spacing with justified paragraphs. All those papers not abiding by these norms will be resent to the authors and will be excluded from the proceedings. Late submissions shall regrettably not be considered.

5. Acceptance
Conference participation. By the 15th July 2018 we will email to you a notification of acceptance or rejection. If accepted, additional conference and registration-specific information will be included.
Paper publication. Within one week of the 31st August 2018 we will email to you a notification of acceptance or rejection for publication in the online conference proceedings. At a later stage, the Editor and the Editorial Board of the Junior College’s scientific periodical Symposia Melitensia, shall choose by a peer reviewing process a selection of the best papers from the proceedings for inclusion in the hard-copy edition of this periodical. The authors of the papers chosen for publication in Symposia Melitensia shall be informed by email and shall be entitled to a hard copy of this issue.

6. Presentations
During the conference, papers shall be allotted a strict 20min slot. The list of participants shall be announced on the 15th July 2018.
Please bring your PPT presentation on a USB flash drive. Each presentation room will be equipped with a laptop and data projector for PowerPoint presentations. We would kindly ask you to refrain from presenting more than 20 powerpoint slides in presentation for time frame purposes. Transparency projectors are not provided.


7. Registration and Payment
Registration for the conference has to be carried out online through the online gateway payment portal accessible through the Junior College conference website. As soon as the participants receive the email notification that their paper proposal has been accepted for the conference, they should proceed immediately to registering and completing the online payment. Participation and attendance are guaranteed only upon completion of both registration and payment.
The conference fees and relative deadlines shall be announced shortly.
Registration fees includes the following:
• Registration for conference and/or one symposium/workshop
• Publication of paper in the proceedings in online e-book format
• Networking lunches and coffee breaks (kindly indicate any dietary requirements during online registration)
• Free Wi-fi access
• Conference pack file
• Free use of discussion room
• Conference booklet
• Certificate of attendance and/or participation


8. Detailed Conference programme
To be announced

9. Presentation schedule
A preliminary programme of the Philosophy symposium, the Physics workshop and the conference will be available from the 15th June 2018. The detailed programmes of all events will be available as from the 10th September 2018. The conference’s parallel panels shall be organized into thematic streams and shall run on 18-20th September 2018. Please note that this schedule may be subject to change.

10. Conference keynote speakers
Prof. Maurzio Ferraris (Torino)
Prof. Marisa Michelini (Udine)
Prof. Joseph M. Brincat (Malta)
Mr Ludvic Zrinzo (UCL)
Dr Anne-Marie Callus (Malta)
Prof. Frank Bezzina (Malta)
Prof. Vincent Cassar (Malta)

11. Official sponsors
Ministry for Finance
Buzzer Stationers

12. Social Tours and Conference Social Dinner
Those participants interested in combining the conference with a cultural tour of Malta, kindly indicate so in your emailed submissions and online registration. We will contact those interested with further details.
As on previous occasions, the Conference Organising Committee shall be organising a social meal at Ristorante La Giara (http://www.lagiaramalta.com) in Valletta. A selected menu will be available at an extra fee during the online registration in order to indicate preferences and any dietary requirements.