EC EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SUMMER PROGRAMS: The Street Art of Cyprus

Thursday, June 27, 2019

The Street Art of Cyprus

Graffiti is art. Art is political. Graffiti is political.

That’s something that gets lost in the discussion of graffiti. The perception, especially in America, is that it’s just something edgy for hood rats to do, ruining public spaces and rebelling a little. This is not correct; at least not in its entirety. Graffiti is a political voice for those who feel left out. The system won’t listen to their cries, so they are going to speak their truth by putting it right in your face. In that way it’s rebellious, but not simply for the sake of being rebellious. The graffiti of Cyprus was political- overwhelmingly so. From repeated Anifafa signs donning the walls, to the messages of unity facing a barbed wire border. It was poignant. It was pointed. It was powerful. It was proof that there was still a group of people risking everything to be seen- because they couldn’t be heard.

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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.