EC EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SUMMER PROGRAMS: Cyprus Reflection

Friday, June 23, 2017

Cyprus Reflection

Cyprus was definitely the most interesting place I have ever been, and it will probably be the most interesting place I ever visit. We stayed in the capital city Nicosia, which is divided down the middle due to the Turkish occupation. It was amazing to walk along the walls and see all of the barbed wire, especially because it's the last standing wall of its kind in Europe. It's still hard to wrap my head around the concept of the Turkish occupation and how there can be such a direct disregard for state sovereignty. Turkey takes it a step further by flashing a huge, flashing, lit up Turkish flag at the southern portion of Cyprus every night. To me this was the epitome of international pettiness and it sounds more like a joke than an actual action of one country towards another. During our time in Cyprus we were able to attend a number of interesting lectures at the University of Nicosia, and we spent a lot of time talking about energy disputes in the region. Turkey's presence also complicates the aspect of energy because Turkey refuses to recognize Cyprus' rights to explore their resources off the coast. This trip gave me a lot to think about and I am so thankful to be a part of the first group to travel to Cyprus through EC EMSS.

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EC Eastern Security Studies Program

In the summer of 2011, as the "Arab Spring" was unfolding and the "Eurozone Crisis" was entering its second year, the Emmanuel College Eastern Mediterranean Security Studies Program was established in Crete, as a way to make the location the classroom. Beyond the grand theoretical, historical and political understanding that can be achieved through reading and classroom discussion and exchange, a more immediate, intimate and truer appreciation of the complexities can only achieved by experiencing the cultures, languages of personal interaction.

Since 2012 students have been able to combine an intensive curricular study, with the experience of immersion and living in a local setting. The geopolitical and geoeconomic forces that have acted in the region for centuries, can be identified in the classroom, but they can only be understood by being there. This year's EC EMSS Program will add a fourth week of study, experience and exploration and will also travel to the islands of Rhodes, and Cyprus. In Rhodes we will be partnering with the Prefecture of Southern Aegean and the Aegean University, while in Cyprus we will be hosted by the University of Nicosia.