EC EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SUMMER PROGRAMS: First week in Crete

Thursday, June 7, 2018

First week in Crete

Hi everybody!

I've been in Crete for about a week now and I can say it has been quite the experience. I arrived in Greece on May 26 and stayed in Thessaloniki for about 5 days. My time in Crete has felt much different than Thessaloniki. There is definitely a feeling that I am on an island during my time in Crete, while Thessaloniki was a fast paced city with traffic and people walking around outside my hostel all day and night.

Learning about the Eastern Mediterranean since classes began on Monday, June 4th 2018, has been fun and informative. Today, we discussed the situation in Cyprus at the cafe lecture in the Chania Harbor. We discussed the historical context that began with the Ottomans gifting the island of Cyprus to the British in the late 19th century. In the 20th century, people on the island perceived there to be two options for the future of Cyprus, which included enosis and taksim. The enosis option called for Cyprus to be annexed by the Greek state, while taksim was supported by Turkey and called for the division of the island. Next week we will be in Cyprus and I was assigned to represent the United States in the simulation at the University of Nicosia. I am excited to get started and be in touch with my partner at the University of Nicosia so we could start working on our opening statement.

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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.