The Department of English Studies is one of the oldest Departments of the University of Cyprus. English Studies was one of the subjects taught at the former Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, which admitted its first students in 1992. That Department formed part of the then School of Humanities and Social Sciences, which was one of the first Schools within the newly established University of Cyprus. Very soon after its establishment, the English Studies Section of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures started offering a Master’s in Literature and a Master’s in Linguistics, beyond the undergraduate programme in English Language and Literature.
In 2004, the University of Cyprus decided to fully restructure its Schools and Departments. As a result, the new School of Humanities is established with three Departments as well as a Language Center, and the Department of English Studies starts operating autonomously with two main tracks, Anglophone literature and linguistics. The new Department continues its excellent tradition in teaching and research, as attested by many achievements throughout the years: A new Masters in Conference Interpreting (2004), a new Masters in TEFL (2009), the establishment of the scientific journal Biolinguistics in 2007, the awarding of Honorary Doctorates to important figures of international reputation after nominations from the Department of English Studies (Noam Chomsky in 2006, Julia Kristeva in 2007), the attraction of and participation in prestigious international research projects (click here for more details), and, last but not least, the introduction of a minor programme in American Studies and an interdepartmental minor programme in Gender Studies in 2009.
The increasing research and teaching activities, as well as the need to respond to the interests of the students led the Department of English Studies to restructure its undergraduate studies in 2010, by offering three tracks: Anglophone Literature and Cultural Studies, Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, and Translation Studies. Today, the Department of English Studies offers postgraduate studies at Master’s and/or PhD level in all three tracks and admits a rising number of undergraduate and graduate students.
The evaluation of the Department of English Studies by an independent international committee in 2014 and the recent accreditation by the Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education (CYQAA) in 2021 confirmed the efforts made by all faculty members and personnel towards teaching, research and administrative excellence.
