‘Beyond and besides language’: intercultural communication in Nicosia,Cyprus

In November and December 2023, literacies, languages and intercultural communication researchers descended on Nicosia in Cyprus for two back-to-back literacies and language conferences in December 2024. These were the annual conference of the International Association for Languages and Intercultural Communication (IALIC), held at the European University Cyprus, for which the theme was ‘rethinking intercultural communication beyond verbal language’ and the 5th International Conference on ‘Literacy and Contemporary Society: Creativity, Equity, Social Action’ for which Professor Jennifer Rowsell was a keynote speaker. 

I was fortunate to attend the IALIC conference, and presented my research on arts practice and journaling among new mothers (Bradley & Pöyhönen, forthcoming) as part of a panel led by Dr Lou Harvey, entitled ‘Among the dashes and the slashes: Creative research for the ‘new new’’. Our panel explored research across, through and beyond the boundaries of activities, people, places and things in ways which acknowledge the role and necessity of those boundaries, and which recognise contingency, partialness, smallness, hesitation, the fluid and the fleeting. It linked to a recent special issue of Language and Intercultural Communication journal which we co-edited with Dr Gameli Tordzro. With this special issue we wanted to demonstrate the power of creative practice for exploring these in-betweens, our strangeness to each other and the strangeness within ourselves. 

It was a really enriching experience to attend the conference, and to catch up with friends and colleagues including keynote speakers Dr Elisabetta Adami who made us hungry talking about food, intercultural identities and social media, and Professor Zhu Hua who took us back to COVID19 linguistic landscapes in London’s Chinatown, as well as have dinner with Professor Jennifer Rowsell and Professor Vicky Macleroy, who was attending the second conference. In many ways it was the first time I have been able to catch up with other intercultural communication scholars in real life, and not behind screens! The conference included an unforgettable guided walk through Nicosia’s old town, including along the Green Line, led by guides from both sides of the border. It has definitely inspired me to learn more about Cyprus and read more about its history.