Additional Information

Course Number

ANTH527

Course Level

Course Description

Intentional destruction of cultural heritage is designed to erase the presence of a people in history and has become an all too familiar feature of the devastation wrought by contemporary violence and "ethnic cleansing." Recent cases appear frequently in news headlines and include such well-known examples as the 2001 demolition of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan, the 2012 destruction of Sufi shrines in Timbuktu, Mali, and the recent obliteration of historic sites across Syria and Iraq. This course explores this phenomenon by examining such questions as: Why is cultural heritage targeted in conflict? Under what circumstances? By whom? In so doing, we will engage with readings that discuss the historical development of the international laws and norms that aim to protect cultural heritage during conflict and examples successful and unsuccessful humanitarian interventions.

Syllabus Available

No

Notes

Program requirement for the Certificate in Cultural Heritage Management. Course description available on the University of Pennsylvania Department of Anthropology website. Please contact department or instructor for further information.

Additional tags: destruction of cultural heritage; humanitarian intervention

Taxonomies

RPA Codes & Standards

• Archaeologist's Responsibility to Colleagues, Employees, and Students
• Archaeologist's Responsibility to the Public

CIfA Codes

• Principle 3: Responsibility for acquiring and recording reliable information of the past in archaeological research

Keywords & Terms

• Armed Conflict and Violence
• Conservation
• Culturally Significant and/or Sacred Sites, Objects, and Places
• International Law
• Local, State, Federal, and Tribal Laws
• Looting, Collecting, and Illicit Trade of Cultural Property
• Management of Cultural Resources, Heritage, History
• Ownership
• Preservation of Archaeological Resources
• Promotion of Archaeological Research/Archaeology as Scientific Discipline
• Protection and Non-Disclosure of Archaeological Sites
• Respect for and Responsibility to Affected Groups
• Stewardship
• UNESCO

Topics & Issues

• Destruction of Cultural Heritage
• Human Rights and Social and Economic Inequalities
• Legislation and Archaeological Preservation
• Monuments and Commemoration
• Public Memory and Public Space
• War, Violence, and Conflict