Welcome Message
Welcome to the Department of Languages and Literature!
As I write this in my office at the University of Nicosia, the sun is shining outside and I can hear the busy buzzing noise of a thriving capital city. It has been a great year in the Department of Languages and Literature and we are looking forward to many more.
This year the department has achieved a great deal: faculty members were awarded significant funding from the European Union to participate in a Quality Assurance project for the teaching of English; graduates from the BA programme have been awarded full scholarships for postgraduate study; and we are about to see our first graduates from our brand new MA in TESOL.
Our department has also been involved in the organization of several events, including a TESOL Day, a series of lectures and workshops designed for professional teachers of English as a Foreign Language. Faculty ran workshops on such topics as ‘Technology in the Classroom’, ‘Teacher Reflection’ or ‘Using Children’s Literature for Young Learners of English’. The next TESOL Day is scheduled for February 2015. Please check our website closer to the time for further details.
In the past year, we have also continued our English Lecture Series, a series of lectures open to the public. This year we had the pleasure of hosting lectures on, among others, the cultural significance of hoaxes, on the impact of book cover designs and on Philip Roth. The department also works in close collaboration with the English Literature Society, which is run by students here at the University of Nicosia. In collaboration with them, the department has been involved in the organization of several events, including lectures on Shakespeare and on Chinua Achebe.
In the coming academic year, we hope to continue to pursue academic excellence both in our students and in our faculty. We particularly hope to develop our involvement in the public life of Cyprus. We plan to extend our existing outreach programme with open lectures and with workshops in language teaching and in creative writing.
Please feel free to browse information about our programmes, faculty and activities. If you require more information about the course or about any of our programmes, feel free to contact me.
I hope to welcome you in the new academic year as new and returning students!
Dr Polina Mackay
Head of Department of Languages and Literature
