CONFERENCE
CALL FOR PAPERS
When: 29 and 30 November 2013
Where: UNESCO Amphitheater, University of Nicosia, Cyprus
Submission Deadline: 31 July 2013
Acceptance Notification: 20 August 2013
Registration Deadline: 30 September 2013
Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Maronites, Latins, and Armenians have been the primary historical communities that compose the multicultural population makeup of Cyprus, resulting in a country of great diversity.
However, the continuing conflict between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots has geographically and socially segregated these communities, while the influx of economic immigrants, especially after Cyprus’s accession to the EU, has in turn contributed to Cyprus’s challenges arising from multiculturalism, in an altogether different manner.
How has education over time attended to the issues introduced by Cyprus’s complex evolving multiculturalism? How can education better attend to current problems of coexistence in Cyprus?
The conference will consider two overarching matters:
1) how formal education (the structured education and training system that runs from pre-primary and primary through secondary school and on to higher education), non-formal education (any planned programme of education designed to improve a range of skills and competences outside the formal educational setting, like the work of NGOs), and informal education (the lifelong process whereby every individual acquires attitudes, skills and knowledge from the educational influences and resources in his or her own environment and from daily experience and conversation) have played a part in the creation and perpetuation of the Cyprus Problem and of prejudiced sentiments in the Cypriot communities andhow education may have contributed to peaceful coexistence between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities in the past and how it may further strengthen reconciliation efforts as well as promote peace and respect among all ethnic groups residing in Cyprus.
The objectives of this conference are manifold:
· to establish how education has been delivered in Cyprus over time, from the Ottoman period to the present day,
· to explore cultural and education practices that can nurture mutual respect for diversity in language, religion, and ethnicity,
· to reassess History Teaching and Museum Education on the island,
· to investigate the ways in which Mass Media has so far represented multiculturalism in Cyprus, and how it can influence understandings of a multicultural Cyprus, and
· to discuss issues of racism in education and in the wider Cypriot community.
Below is an indicative, but not exhaustive, list of relevant questions that presentations may address:
1. How have the two separate educational systems in Cyprus shaped the perspectives of the local communities?
2. Has the difference in language, religion and ethnicity played a role in the division of Cyprus?
3. How do we best promote social justice in our schools and our communities?
4. What can we learn from contemporary trends in multicultural education?
5. What are the challenges in implementing multicultural education programs?
6. How can interaction among academics, educators, parents and students of the two communities be promoted with a view to preparing the younger generation for a common future?
7. How can advanced technologies aid us in creating a more equitable multicultural environment in Cyprus?
8. How can History Teaching and Museum Education attend to reconciliation efforts?
9. Is there a common heritage on which Cypriots can build a united future?
10. In what ways can citizenship become a prevalent overarching identity in Cyprus?
11. What role can NGOs play toward bridging cultural differences?
12. How can we reduce racial, ethnic, and economic isolation in Cyprus?
13. How can we best tackle current anti-immigrant sentiments?
14. How do mass media and political discourse manipulate public opinion?
15. How can we break away from phobias toward the Other that stand as obstacles to peaceful coexistence?
16. Could the setting up of a Truth and Reconciliation Committee help toward the reunification of Cyprus and its people?
The conference is addressed to academics, educators, intellectuals, students, writers, artists, journalists, and NGO workers.
Collateral cultural events, including art exhibitions, music concerts, film screenings and poetry readings, will run at the Ledra Palace Hotel area in the buffer zone in the week leading up to and during the conference. More details will be announced in due course.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Tony Gallagher
Professor Tony Gallagher joined Queen’s University Belfast as a Lecturer in Education in 1992 and was later appointed to a Readership in 1995 and a Chair in 1999. In 2005 he was appointed Head of the School of Education. His main research interest lies in the role of education in societies marked by ethnic conflict, although he is also interested more generally in issues related to equality and social inclusion in education. Most of his research has been carried out in Northern Ireland, although he has also worked in the Middle East, with Israeli and Palestinian educators, and in South East Europe. He has acted as a consultant for many government departments, non-governmental public bodies, voluntary and community organizations, and a range of international organizations. His current main work involves the exploration of effective methods of school collaboration to raise standards and promote new relationships across denominational divisions in Northern Ireland.
Kenan Çayır
Kenan Çayır is Associate Professor of Sociology and the Director of the Sociology and Educational Studies Division at Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey. His research focuses on textbooks, human rights, citizenship education and Islamic movements. He has also been involved in several projects as a trainer for teachers, including, “Human Rights Violations in Textbooks in Turkey” supported by the History Foundation of Turkey and “Critical Thinking Skills” by the Ministry of Education and Education Reform Initiative. Dr. Çayır currently works with a group of teachers on developing modules and texts on handling sensitive issues such as discrimination and massacres in Turkish history in classrooms. He is also a consultant on human rights and education projects for several NGOs. He has published several articles in Intercultural Education, The Journal of Social Science Education and Journal of Intercultural Studies. He has a Ph.D. in political science and international relations from Bogazici University, Istanbul.
Matthew Lange
Matthew Lange is Associate Professor of Sociology at McGill. Lange’s research focuses on broad-based development in the Third World and ethnic conflict. He has recently completed comparative-historical research that analyzes the developmental legacies of British colonial rule, with particular focus on the effects colonial/postcolonial states have had on education, health, economic growth, and democratization. His present research project investigates the causes of ethnic conflict and has two foci: the historical impact of colonialism on ethnic conflict and the ways that education affects ethnic conflict. Along with these projects, Lange’s interests include comparative-historical methods and nested research designs.
Panayiotis Persianis
Dr Panayiotis Persianis was an Associate Professor of History of Education at the University of Cyprus from 1994 to 2000. His research focuses on the history of Greek Cypriot education during the British administration of Cyprus (1878-1960) and the impact of the colonial rule on the relations between the two main communities of Cyprus (Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots). In 2012 he published a book on the politics of Greek Cypriot education and in 2010 a book on citizenship education, which was based on a major research funded by the Research Promotion Foundation.
Meltem Onurkan Samani
Dr. Meltem Onurkan Samani is an Assistant Professor of History at the European University of Lefke, and vice-president of the Association for Historical Dialogue and Research (AHDR), Cyprus. Among her research interests are colonial history of Cyprus, impact of colonial policies on (political) culture of the (Turkish) Cypriots, development of Turkish Cypriot nationalism, the role of history education and textbooks in Turkish Cypriot politics. She has also been involved in the change of the Turkish Cypriot history textbooks to include and reflect new approaches, methods and techniques in history teaching (2004-2007) as a textbook author. She is interested in history teaching and learning (methods of promoting critical historical thinking and understanding, intercultural learning and peace education). She is a teacher trainer of the AHDR. Her B.Sc. in History is from the Middle East Technical University while her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in History are from Hacettepe University, Turkey.
PRESENTATION PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS
All interested parties should e-mail John Mavris at mavris.j@unic.ac.cy with:
1. a 200-250 word abstract
2. a brief biography
3. contact information
Materials must be submitted by July 31, 2013. Presenters will be notified of proposal acceptance by August 20, 2013. Selected presenters must send confirmation of their participation for the conference by September 30, 2013.
*NOTE: The participation fee for this conference is 10 Euro to be paid during Registration (16:00-16:15pm on Friday, 29 November, 2013) just prior to the commencement of the conference. Lunch will be available at competitive prices at the University of Nicosia for all conference participants.
Conference Co-organizers:
Cyprus Academic Dialogue (CAD)
The Cyprus Center for Intercultural Studies—University of Nicosia
The Association for Historical Dialogue and Research (AHDR)
The Friedrich Ebert Foundation
The Australian High Commission
The Goethe Institute
Cyprus Academic Forum (CAF)