EUROPE-CYPRUS: THE CYPRUS ORAL HISTORY AND LIVING MEMORY PROJECT

The Cyprus Oral History and Living Memory Project is a process of reflecting on the events of the recent history of Cyprus, particularly the important historic period 1960-1974. Cyprus, one of the smallest countries in the European Union, is also the last divided country in Europe, Nicosia its last divided city.
Dr. Nikoletta Christodoulou, project coordinator and principal investigator, introduces the project, as ‘an endeavor to understand the events that contributed to “the Cyprus problem” and to make this information available to others.
‘We interviewed forty people; mostly excluded voices of the widest variety of people who lived through the events of 1974 in a range of capacities, as inhabitants, soldiers, refugees, students, relatives, friends, men and women, girls and boys, Greek-Cypriots, Turkish-Cypriots, and Maronites. Advisor to the project, Professor Bill Ayers argues that a rich and varied archive helps us to understand “how participants, as three-dimensional, grass-roots makers of history, understood the events and narrated their lives”.
‘We are working on expanding the archive with the assistance of school students and their teachers and the work of graduate students who are interested in oral history. Our guiding light is ‘every day another story’. This archive will become a valuable resource for future historians to aid in their own searches for deeper meanings and fuller understandings.
‘In March 2011 we offered workshops and seminars on oral history with the aim of creating an oral history culture among teachers, students, scholars and researchers. A booklet came out of these seminars and was distributed to teachers for teaching purposes.
‘So far, information about the project has been disseminated via conference presentations and journal article publications. However it is two short documentary films of the ‘making of’ the project and of Cypriots narrating their experiences which have been the most powerful outputs in terms of attracting people to the idea of oral history and drawing attention to the project.
‘February 2012 will see the publication of a book containing stories of the participants, analysis of the stories in relation to the Cyprus problem, and chapters on oral history research and methodology.
‘The project team includes: Dr. Bill Ayers, Professor of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA; Dr. Lucy Avraamidou, CARDET and University of Nicosia, Cyprus; Mrs. Katie Clerides, Institute for Eurodemocracy Glafcos Clerides, Cyprus; and Dr. Nikoletta Christodoulou, Frederick Research Centre and School of Education at Frederick University, Cyprus. The project is funded by the Research Promotion Foundation, Nicosia, Cyprus.’
• For more information on the project, or to order a copy of the publication please contact: n.christodoulou@frederick.ac.cy or visit www.frederick.ac.cy/research/oralhistory.

28 ORAL HISTORY Spring 2012