Inside the RELIC Intensive Immersion Course in Cyprus

Every RELIC student follows a different mobility pathway during the first three semesters. Then, at the start of semester four, everyone comes together again in Cyprus for one of the programme’s most distinctive experiences, the Intensive Immersion Course.

Hosted by the Cyprus Institute, this two week course is much more than a study trip. It is a practice based, collaborative learning experience where students work across disciplines and pathways to explore heritage in a context shaped by coexistence, division, memory, and political complexity.

Cyprus is the perfect place for this kind of learning. The island offers a living laboratory for understanding how heritage is preserved, transformed, contested, and sometimes erased. RELIC uses this context to help students move from classroom knowledge to applied analysis.

During the course, students take part in site visits, expert sessions, workshops, and collaborative research activities. What makes the experience especially valuable is the mix of methods. We do not approach heritage from only one angle. We work across humanities, digital methods, policy perspectives, and community centred approaches.

One day may involve field observation and documentation. Another may focus on debate, interpretation, and comparing narratives. Another may involve lab based or digital work to support analysis. The pace is intense, but that is part of the design. It mirrors the real conditions of professional heritage work, where evidence, ethics, and decision making need to come together quickly and thoughtfully.

For many students, the Cyprus course is also the moment when thesis ideas become clearer. Because the course is so applied, it helps identify concrete research questions and methods. It also creates space for conversations with faculty and peers from across the consortium, which is especially helpful before starting the final thesis and internship period.

What I valued most was the collaborative dimension. RELIC brings together students from different countries and academic backgrounds and the Cyprus immersion makes that diversity visible in practice. People notice different things, ask different questions, and bring different assumptions. That diversity improves the work.

The Intensive Immersion Course captures what RELIC is about at its best. International learning, critical reflection, practical application, and responsible leadership in heritage.

If you are looking for a master’s programme where mobility and interdisciplinarity are fully integrated into the learning experience, this course is one of the strongest examples of what RELIC offers.