A conversation with Ute Ackermann Boeros on teaching contested histories through monuments

Monument(al) Challenges is a EuroClio project collaboratively implemented with the Contested Histories Initiative, aiming to respond to some of the challenges educators across Europe face in teaching history. Raising sensitive historical issues in the classroom and their connection to monuments in public spaces can be a tricky task for teachers; topics such as recent conflicts, anti-Semitism and the legacies of slavery can still spark the emotional reaction of students who grow up in divisive societies. The project puts the needs of educators who tackle these issues in schools and museums at the forefront, developing resources and training materials to equip them with the skills to discuss complex histories.

In January 2025, EuroClio had the chance to discuss with one of the consortium members, Ute Ackermann Boeros, a History and Theory of Knowledge teacher from the American International School in Cyprus.

Lauriane: Ute, I know you are a teacher at the American International School in Cyprus and taking part in the Monument(al) Challenges project, amongst others. Hence, my first question would be, why did you join Monument(al) Challenges, and why is it important for you to be part of this project? 

Ute: I joined because I read about contested histories before, which sounded very captivating and interesting. Looking at how history is told through monuments, especially contested ones, it’s really interesting in Cyprus. Sure, most countries have some kind of contested history, but the case of Cyprus is quite different.

It is an intense situation that has been going on for a while. I found it very interesting, especially since I teach at an international school. I wanted my students to learn more about the country they are living in. A lot of times, international students stay for a few years but don’t really get to know much about the history, especially the more complex parts, of their host country.

Lauriane: As a teacher, what do you think is essential for other teachers to consider before teaching contested histories, controversial and sensitive topics and monuments? Are there guidelines that you follow? 

Ute: Yes. First of all, you have to know your class. You have to know who is in your class, in our case, we have Israeli and Palestinian students in the same class. You have to be careful with how you word things, because it can be taken the one way or the other. So you need to understand what are the dynamics in the classroom. 

Then, you need to know the history well yourself. You need to be aware of the contestations. At the same time, even if you try to be an expert on the topic, you have to let your students know that there are always perspectives or narratives that a teacher doesn’t know about and that you are always willing to involve or engage with other perspectives. 

It is quite important to be open as a teacher before you start the lesson, to prepare the students for what is coming. Set the context and set the tone, also in terms of what language we use.

Lauriane: One question that is related, do you ask your students to participate and share their experience sometimes? If it relates to their family’s and their own history?

Ute: At this moment, and on specific topics, I would not because we had some critical issues with our Palestinian and Israeli students. And of course, you have to be really careful with some of the topics that you touch upon.

For example, I taught Egyptian history for the International Baccalaureat, and we had a lesson on authoritarian leaders. During the lesson, I mentioned Nasser could be considered an authoritarian leader, and then I had an Egyptian ambassador telling me he was a national hero. On the one hand, they send their children to international schools, which are intrinsically diverse and you have to be aware of some sensitivities. On the other hand, I don’t self-censor, but it is necessary to introduce the topic and make a disclaimer.

Lauriane: I see, and in the context of Cyprus, you talked about it briefly earlier; what are key points of contestation according to you?  

Ute: Should Cyprus be a unified country? Should it be a federal state? Was the Turkish invasion justified? Was it not? What was the role of the nationalists during the coup in 1974?  All these different political opinions and views, it’s a maze and it’s very difficult for outsiders to understand. 

What I tried to do, especially in light of Monument(al) Challenges, was to give a clear rundown of what happened, who is involved, and how. In Cyprus, the problem is that the Turkish Cypriots would like to see their part as an independent country and at the moment, it’s not recognised internationally, which makes them feel like they don’t have equal opportunities. Turkish Cypriots can be citizens of the EU, but it is a complicated legal framework, and they still want to have their own state. So the question is, do we want to have a federation or unitary state? Every time we have a new president, there is a new attempt to solve the problem and then there is always a standstill at one point.

Lauriane: So there is not a lot of exchange between the two populations, the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots.

Ute: There is, the border is open. Before that, it was more or less closed; it was only tourists who could visit the North. If you arrived in the Turkish part of Cyprus, you could travel to the Greek part of Cyprus, but for Greek Cypriots who may have wanted to go back to see their village or visit Turkish Cypriot friends, it was challenging.

Years ago, the Historic Association built a house, the Home for Cooperation, which was supposed to be a meeting point in a neutral part of Cyprus, the so-called buffer zone.  When the old government was in place, the teachers were told they were not allowed to join these bi-communal teacher training meetings. That has changed. People can now move between the two parts of Cyprus.

Lauriane: That is such an intricate and interesting story. My next question would be regarding the sensitivity of the topic and the fact that Cyprus has two distinct communities. How do you address this topic in school? Students who might come from outside of Cyprus, especially, how do they understand this history?  

Ute: If you set the historical context and explain, they understand. What’s more, we are talking about two communities, but there are more than two communities in Cyprus. There are the Armenians, the Maronites, and the Latins, who are more or less ignored in the bigger debate.

After I had piloted one of the activities in the Monument(al) Challenges Toolkit, I found out that a number of students said they understood Cyprus so much better. They understand why Nicosia is a divided city, initially many of them don’t necessarily go to the old part of the city where you have the dividing line. It was also important for the students to get an understanding of what it means to live in a divided city. During the lessons, I stay as factual as possible, emphasising that the two communities will look at it differently as they have different perspectives. 

I also try to address this situation through personal stories, to bring across that emotional element. Yet at the same time, we are historians, and we are dealing with historical facts. This emotional element is a perspective that you can look at and investigate, for instance, my husband’s family are refugees from the North, they had Turkish Cypriot friends, so the division was very hard. There is a human side to history and to political developments.

Lastly, another important thing is source analysis. You read the primary sources, you listen to, and you read speeches and publications. Students then should try to make up their own mind. That’s how I approach it. 

Lauriane: Thank you for sharing this. I have read the lesson plans on contested monuments in Cyprus that you developed for the Monument(al) Challenges Toolkit. Could you remind us what the contested sites were?

Ute: One is the Liberty Monument in Nicosia. The full name of the monument is “Monument to Liberty and the Motherland”, and it was created after the British colonisation of Cyprus, so it celebrates the liberation from British colonial rule. Eventually, this monument took years to be created and then, just before it was to be inaugurated, the Turkish invasion happened in 1974. Hence, that monument took on a different meaning.

Another interesting thing is the monument’s location. It’s located on the Venetian city walls, and it has straight access to the archbishop’s palace. The first president of Cyprus was also an archbishop, Archbishop Makarios. This axis of power connected the church with nationalist ideas, as the guardians of Hellenism. That is why it doesn’t include Turkish Cypriots at all, it’s just a Greek Cypriot perspective on liberation from British colonial rule.

The other monument, the statue of Georgios Grivas, is particularly contested because he was involved in a nationalist movement trying to bring down the Archbishop, the then-president Archbishop Makarios, by staging a coup to unite Cyprus with Greece.

This monument is somewhat connected to the other one in terms of the idea of motherland, with this connection between Greece and Cyprus. That is highly contested; once a year, during the day of the commemoration, activist groups would throw paint at the Grivas monument and would demonstrate. More recently, the monument has been fenced off, so it isn’t accessible without permission anymore. Now, a group called Elam, which is the right-wing nationalist party in Cyprus, is the guardian of the statue. 

Lauriane: When testing the lesson plans in class with your students, how did it go? How did they take it? 

Ute: Unfortunately, we couldn’t go to the Grivas monument, so I did the Liberty Monument in Nicosia, and the students responded well. In the end, they had to write a reflective essay on how to tell a national history. How would they create a monument to represent the different perspectives? I had some students who wrote excellent answers and resonated with the topic. One that I remember at the top of my head is from the Basque country, and she said she saw a lot of similarities between Cyprus and what she experienced in the Basque Country. Another student is Lebanese, and she could make significant personal connections to the situation in Lebanon. Then, I felt the benefit of teaching in an international school because students could, on several levels, connect with the contested history of Cyprus.

Lauriane: Would you say that they are usually willing to have these complicated conversations in class?

Ute: My students, yes. I have been teaching this class for three-four years, so they know me, and I know them. I also teach a Theory of Knowledge class, where we discussed a lot of controversial issues. So they were prepared, and they had practiced how to approach such topics, and they liked the field trip as well.

As a result of this project, I am thinking of more ways of taking my students out. For instance, I am taking them to the Archaeological Museum as part of my Theory of Knowledge class. We are discussing the creation of historical narratives and ethical and moral considerations. I want them to think about how ethical it is to exhibit skeletons and human remains in a museum and if it is justified to create historical knowledge.

Photo: Liberty Monument, Nicosia . Credits: Mboesch via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0.