School of Law Research Associate Awarded Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) Widening Fellowship

Dr Maria Hadjiathanasiou to investigate British, Greek and Turkish Cultural Diplomacy in Cyprus, 1945-1974

Dr Maria Hadjiathanasiou, a Research Associate at the School of Law, has been awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) Widening Fellowship by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation Programme. Starting in September 2019 and based at the School of Law, Dr Hadjiathanasiou will be working on a two-year funded research project titled “Power through Attraction: British, Greek and Turkish Cultural Diplomacy in Cyprus, 1945-1974” (CuDiCy). Hubert Faustmann, Professor of History and Political Science at the Department of Politics and Governance at the School of Law will act as her supervisor.

The MSCA fellowships aim to enhance the creative and innovative potential of experienced researchers, wishing to diversify their individual competence in terms of skill acquisition through advanced training, international and intersectoral mobility. Widening fellowships help spread excellence and close the still apparent research and innovation gap within Europe.

CuDiCy will investigate the cultural diplomacy of three states: The UK, Greece and Turkey, as it was practiced in Cyprus between 1945 and 1974. CuDiCy aspires to set a new paradigm in the growing field of cultural diplomacy, by becoming the study model for an innovative approach towards the exploration of external cultural influence in countries which accommodate ethnically diverse populations, for example Syria and Lebanon. It will contribute to the discussion about the conceptualisation of power, politics, authority and governance, as well as on the formation and transformation of identity. CuDiCy will seek to achieve this by tracing and analysing the ways state and non-state cultural actors influenced the progress of events in Cyprus, from the end of the Second World War to the Turkish invasion.

CuDiCy has a strong cross-sectoral multidisciplinary focus, involving the fields of History, International Relations, Political Science and the Humanities. It is expected that CuDiCy’s results will enrich and expand the discussion on global cultural diplomacy significantly, shedding light on a little researched region, with substantial implications on what constitutes successful cultural diplomacy today.

This is the first time the University of Nicosia receives a Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) Widening Fellowship from the European Commission under the Horizon2020 Research & Innovation Programme.