Dis-Course Platform Relaunches in Larnaca With Alexander College as Founding Academic Partner

Larnaca, Cyprus. Dis-Course, an independent interdisciplinary platform for ideas, research and public conversation, launches its new programme in November, with Alexander College as Founding Academic Partner. The initiative was set up in Cyprus three years ago and is now expanding considerably.

From university programme to independent platform

Dis-Course began as a university-based series of invited talks. It is now developing into an independent platform that links academics, researchers, artists, designers and practitioners across disciplines, institutions and borders.

Related: Cyprus Symphony Orchestra to stage The Jungle Book family concerts in Larnaca and Nicosia

RelatedCyprus Symphony Orchestra to stage The Jungle Book family concerts in Larnaca and Nicosia

The platform is based in Cyprus but has an international outlook. It will pair live events in Larnaca with online participation, broadcasting and a growing digital archive, with the aim of letting ideas travel beyond classrooms, conferences and single institutions.

The 2026-27 programme

The 2026-27 programme will include talks, conversations and panel discussions. Speakers will be invited to Larnaca, while international contributors will take part online for audiences in Cyprus. Panels will gather differing viewpoints on contemporary questions in the arts, humanities, science, research, culture, media, technology and society.

Founder’s vision

Founder Simon Pruciak said the idea was simple: “universities are full of interesting people, research and conversations, but these too often remain within particular classrooms, disciplines or conferences.”

He said he wanted to build a space where such boundaries matter less, so that a photographer might talk with a philosopher, a technologist with an artist, or a researcher with an audience they would not usually meet. According to Pruciak, the new phase allows these conversations to reach much further, in Cyprus and abroad.

Opening event at Alexander College

The first event of the relaunched programme will be held at Alexander College in Larnaca on Wednesday, November 4, at 6pm. The speaker will be Dr Kleanthis Neokleous of the CYENS Centre of Excellence.

His talk is titled ‘From Research to Experience: Immersive Technologies at CYENS’. Dr Neokleous will present the work of the CYENS Centre of Excellence, focusing in particular on its research groups Immersive Technologies for Intelligent and Creative Applications (ITICA) and Museum Lab.

The session will examine how research, technological innovation, creativity and human-centred design combine to produce interactive and immersive experiences in cultural heritage, education and other fields of application.