Cyprus’ and Turkey’s first Urban Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Management Master’s Program offered under Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Faculty of Arts and Science, Department of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences is awaiting its new students for the 2020-2021 Academic Year Spring Semester. Having completed its first term in the Fall Semester, the program is carried out in cooperation with EMU Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture. The program provides education with the valuable accummulation of EMU, which opened the first Archeology and History of Art Department in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in the past and carried out the first Turkish Cypriot scientific archeology project followed by the first international archeology research project on our island.
What Does the Program Offer to Students?
Students studying in this program learn theoretical knowledge on archeology, art history, museology, city planning, architecture and urban conservation, restoration and related fields in line with their own choices. Students specialize in project development by working on bringing cultural heritage to human and urban life. The practical part of the program consists of cultural heritage trips and field studies. EMU Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences stated that field trips in Cyprus, Turkey and Europe and relevant practices will continue when the pandemic comes to an end.
“Online Webinars”
“Closed online webinars are organized for our postgraduate students, who are also prospective scientists, in the Urban Archeology and Cultural Heritage Management Master’s Program. In this context, we aim to increase the participation of scientists who have a say in their field in these sessions. In the first event organized within this framework, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Metin Büyükkarakaya attended the webinar alongside with our students. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Metin Büyükkarakaya delivered a presentation under the title "Bioarchaeology in the 21st Century" and this practice, which was held in the form of a closed session, focused on the point where Bioarchaeology studies have come and the scientific studies that can be done worldwide.
In addition, organised by the Republic of Turkey Kocaeli Museum and Turkish Cultural Heritage Conservation and Research Association and under the moderation of Kocaeli Museum Director Serkan Gedük, 'Cultural Heritage Talks’ hosted o Head of the Department Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bülent Kızılduman’s presentation titled "Archaeological Perspective on Anatolian-Cyprus Relations through the Ages". During the presentation, the relations between Anatolia and Cyprus, which have been going on for thousands of years, were presented from a different and scientific perspective. During this presentation, the contributions of our island to the World Cultural Heritage were also mentioned and it was emphasized how Cyprus, mentioned with war and trade throughout the ages, actually touches the lives of people with its own culture of reconciliation and peace from time to time. "
“Our Students Develop Themselves Academically"
“Our students develop themselves with the support of the head of the Architecture Faculty, Department of Architecture, who contributed to the studies of the department, Prof. Dr. Resmiye Alpar Atun and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Netice Yıldız, who has scientific work in the field of History of Art and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ege Uluca Tümer, who has valuable work on the field of preservation. With the works of EMU Arts and Sciences Faculty academic staff member and archaeologist Dr. Rıza Tuncel, our prospective scientists focus on Archaeological Artifact Research and Approaches, and with the experience they gain in this regard, they are trained as Urban Archeology and Cultural Heritage Management experts needed in Cyprus and Turkey.
"International Projects are Planned"
"Our department, in scope of Urban Archeology and Cultural Heritage Management program, aims to develop joint projects on the cultural heritage of both our island and the Mediterranean with the universities in Germany, Italy and Turkey . In scope of the collaboration projects developed by the department and EMU Eastern Mediterranean Cultural Heritage Research Center, a project focusing on the restoration and conservation of Kaleburnu King Hill, an important Late Bronze Age Settlement, is being evaluated with the contributions of Expert Conservationist Elif Doğru and Mehmet Ali Kıran with links to Turkey and Czech Republic.
“Efforts are made to Protect Archaeological Sites"
Within the scope of another project carried out in cooperation with the department and the center, Dr. Seren Öğmen Uyguroğlu, under the supervision of Assoc. Dr. Bülent Kızılduman, conducts the scientific inquiry studies of the archaeological sites determined in the research conducted in the Karpaz Peninsula with the contribution of Kemal Keledi, a postgraduate program student. To make the necessary legal applications for the place to be declared a protected area in order to transfer these areas to future generations in a way that will not harm the local people, a report is being prepared. As a result of the said work, an application will be made to the TRNC Ministry of Tourism and Environment, Department of Antiquities and Museums at the end of the pandemic in order to act in accordance the scope of the Antiquities Act 60/94. "