Exploring the ‘Hidden Gem’ of the Mediterranean: Cross-Cultural Communication in Cyprus
By: Samuel Cavalheiro
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While most UMass students were bracing for the Amherst chill this past January, a group of Commonwealth Honors College students traded their snow boots for hiking shoes. The International Scholars Program, directed by Madalina Akli, brought a group of Honors students to the small Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus.
The students took part in a Cross-Cultural Communication class, a four-credit Honors course that transforms the island of Cyprus into a living classroom. From milking goats in the rolling hills to navigating the complex political situation in Cyprus, these students discovered that Cyprus is far more than a Mediterranean vacation spot.
A Country of Contrasts, History, and Culture
For many participants, the first surprise was the island’s sheer geographic diversity. Boyd Pugh, a junior mechanical engineering major, noted how quickly the scenery shifts.
"It was pretty striking how for such a small island, how varied the geography was because you had beautiful rolling hills in the middle of the island, mountain ranges that feel like Colorado, and then like, just an hour and a half drive from there is the beach.”
The itinerary was packed with striking historical sites as well. At Paphos and Aphrodite’s Rock, Jasmine Zhao, a junior food science and environmental science major, explored the ancient burial grounds at the Tomb of the Kings and heard the myth that swimming there during a full moon grants eternal beauty. For the more adventurous, like junior biomedical engineering major Griffin Gasdia, free time meant cliff jumping into crystal-clear waters at sea caves carved by centuries of erosion.
The experience also involved culinary excursions, most notably the production of halloumi cheese. The students visited a local bio-farm where they learned the process from start to finish. Gasdia shared that they got to milk the goats and make the cheese right there on the farm. Pugh agreed that the fresh halloumi was easily the best they had on the whole island.
Cypriot History and Struggles
The heart of the program is the Cross-Cultural Communication class led by Madalina Akli.
The course challenges students to look past stereotypes and understand the single story that often limits our view of other cultures.
In Cyprus, this meant confronting the ongoing political division between the Greek Cypriot south and the Turkish Cypriot north. Zhao admitted she didn't even know about the conflict before the trip, and that changed her perspective on future travel.
“I want to research a place more before I go, because before I went to Cyprus, I barely knew anything about the country... I want to be more aware of the current issues that people are facing in that country and, if I need to, how could I be sensitive towards that?”
Gasdia recalled a particularly sobering visit to Varosha, a ghost city abandoned since the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
“It was crazy to think that people from the Greek Cypriot side can come in and look at their storefronts and their properties that they had 50 years ago that have now just been sitting there and decaying for these many decades. That was super interesting... seeing it firsthand was very eye-opening.”
Becoming Global Citizens
Beyond the credits and the photos, the program leaves students with a redefined sense of self.
The class forced participants to analyze their own "American-ness", from realizing they might be the loudest people in a room to understanding that American exceptionalism isn't the only lens through which to view the world.
Pugh reflected that although he thought he had it all figured out because he had traveled before, learning how remarkably similar Cyprus is to the U.S. in some ways, and how remarkably different in others, was his biggest takeaway.
The "travel bug" is clearly contagious, as the students are already planning their next moves. Zhao is headed to Iceland next semester, Gasdia is looking into shadowing doctors in Greece, and Pugh is dreaming of Italy and China, though he admits he’d go back to Cyprus in a heartbeat.
Interested in the 2027 Winter Program?
The Office of National Scholarship Advisement (ONSA) holds info sessions for this "hidden gem" of a program. Whether you’re an engineer looking to fit study abroad into a tight schedule or a pre-med student wanting a global perspective, Cyprus offers a classroom like no other. Visit the CHC website for application deadlines and upcoming sessions.
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Samuel Cavalheiro
