The term “woke” is being thrown around to describe the insertion of inclusive practices in mainstream media, particularly centered on race and gender. But is what does it mean? Is any cynicism around this justified? Is it truly inclusive and are efforts being done to truly be inclusive? This talk, designed by a person who works in inclusion, will address these ideas head on, outlining what inclusion is, representation in the media and it’s relative importance as well as the more ideological struggles this presents for the everyman engaging with the average media.
Moderator
Raphael Borg has been an inclusive educator (LSE) for the last ten years, and a geek for far more than that. Armed with a curiosity fostered by having spent most of his young life in his grandfather’s library, Raphael takes regular deep dives into critical theories both in social, political, historical and literary aspects and uses them to analyse what media he engages with, being literature, music, movies and comics themselves. He regularly writes reviews for the Wicked Comics website, having a preference for the medium which he nurtured from the classic Beano and Dandy comics in the 90s to the more mainstream American comics and Manga in the early 2000s.
Speakers
James Aquilina
A geek who isn’t afraid to voice his opinion. When I’m not building Gundam model kits or trying not get my butt kicked in Multiversus, I’m posting opinions & reviews of films, shows, and comics on my FB page “The Maltese Geek”
Andrew Camilleri
Andrew Camilleri is an educator by profession, working at Saint Albert in Valletta for the past 10 years, with active involvement in curriculum development and pastoral care. He recently finished his MA, specialising in culturally sensitive pedagogy, with his research focusing on the merits of the encounter as a tool for inclusion. Between 2014 and 2020 Andrew and an associate founded a non-profit voluntary organisation that worked on educational projects in East Africa
Nicholas Nani
As a little kid, Nicholas Nani was always into films. He would go to the cinema on a frequent Sunday, watching the new blockbusters. As a Composer, my inspiration to write music came from films. And from the love of films, also can the love of superheroes and comics.
His first ever superhero film was the Classic ‘Spiderman’ (2002) film, as his introduction to marvel. As most kids out there, Spiderman was an inspiration, the things he can do, and how relatable he was for young people. Later on, ‘Superman Returns’ (2006) was his introduction to DC, followed by ‘Batman Begins’. In the meantime, TV comic series was his deeper involvement of superheroes, and helping with the introduction to comic books, and superhero video games.
The fantasy worlds, of superheroes, were something intriguing for Nicholas. These special abilities, with fantastic stories, were things that take you into a new world, and these interests in films and superheroes, is what started the channel that he created ‘Into the Cina-Verse’.
Luca Casapinta
Luca is a co-host of a YouTube channel called ‘Into the Cina-verse’; where they talk and discuss the latest films and tv shows, especially ones which are Marvel and DC related. Luca has been interested in comic book characters ever since he was a child, as he grew up on Michael Keaton’s ‘Batman’ and Mark Hamill’s ‘The Joker’. Prefers DC over Marvel, but is a huge Marvel fan nonetheless. The years of watching films and tv shows centred on comic book characters have given him an inspiration to start creating his own set of stories and characters which he wishes to one day share with the rest of the world.
Dr François Mifsud
Dr François Mifsud was born in Malta, and completed his undergraduate studies in philosophy and social anthropology at the University of Malta. He also holds a Theology degree from the Facolta Teologica Emilia-Romania (Bologna) and a Masters in Social Justice and Education from the Institute of Education (IOE) at University College London. He completed his PhD in philosophy of education at OISE, University of Toronto. His PhD thesis title is “First hospitality for educability: an ethical, epistemological and political symbiotic relationship.” His research orbits around questions of social justice, diversity, multiculturalism, multi-faith, inclusion, and educational possibilities. Mifsud has been researching different arias of studies in postcolonial and post-holocaust literature. He has contributed to formulating policy papers for diversity and inclusion issues. Furthermore, Mifsud has been developing curricula focusing on migrants’ integration and multicultural and multi-faith education. Currently, he holds the lecturer position in multicultural education studies in the Department of Inclusion and Access to Learning at the Faculty of Education, University of Malta.
Clíodhna
Clíodhna is an Animator and Illustrator with a first name that few people outside of Ireland can pronounce or spell. Her parents named her after a lifeboat on the Aran Islands where she was born for which she feels slightly jibbed as boats are usually named after people and not the other way round.
She studied animation at Ballyfermot College in Dublin and comics at the School of Visual Arts in New York. She has worked on both Animated feature films and tv series for the past ten years and is a regular exhibitor at art and comic festivals around the world. She has a passion for travel and considers Eurovision to be her national sport.