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Dr John Burke

Project title

Britain and the Cyprus Crisis of 1974: Conflict, Colonialism and the Politics of Remembrance

Supervisors

 

The United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus, commonly referred to as the Green Line.

Project description

I focused on remembrance/representation of Britain and the Cyprus conflict of 1974. I looked at it from within Greek Cypriot society.  I drew on a range of official and popular sources, including oral history interviews. I argued a suspicion, borne out of Britain’s long (neo)-colonial connection towards Cyprus, has come to frame the events, and lasting consequences, of 1974.  This has long been defined by:

  • the existence of conspiracies
  • collusive accusations
  • a series of memory distortions

These have continued to resonate irrespective of archival evidence that is now available.

Other roles

Teaching: Newcastle University 2013-present:

Teaching: Newcastle University 2013-present:

  • HIS1025 World Empires, seminar leader
  • HIS1027 Introduction to European History, seminar leader
  • HIS1029 Varieties of History, seminar leader
  • HIS1044 Aspects of British History, seminar leader
  • HIS3000 Reading History, strand leader
  • HIS3020 Writing History, Dissertation Supervisor

Sunderland University 2015-2016:

  • HIS216 Experiencing Twentieth-Century Europe, Module leader.
  • HIS220 History Special Project, Strand leader.
  • CHP301 Contemporary Issues in Historical Perspective, lecturer.
  • HIS320 Dissertation and Research Methods, dissertation supervisor.

Qualifications

  • 2009-10: MA European History, Newcastle University
  • 2005-08: BA (Hons) History, Newcastle University

Publications

  • An Eternal Balancing Act: Cyprus, Britain and the Refugee Question in the SBAs, Journal of Modern Greek Studies, (forthcoming October 2017)
  • Britain and the Cyprus Crisis of 1974: Conflict, Colonialism and the Politics of Remembrance in Greek Cypriot Society, (Under contract with Routledge, due November 2017)

Interests

  • Modern British history
  • modern Cypriot history
  • modern Greek history
  • end of empire
  • history and memory
  • oral history