War, climate change, globalization, and economic development pose significant threats to the world’s natural and cultural heritage. Societies around the world share many of the same concerns, even as specific regions, countries and communities face unique challenges.
The Centers of the International Institute of the University of Michigan are organizing a one-day symposium aimed at establishing a dialogue about global heritage. The gathering seeks to initiate a discussion among invited international experts and the U-M community that explores threats to heritage and the strategies that have been developed to mitigate these threats, in both global and local contexts. Speakers representing diverse regions of the world--Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, North Africa and the Middle East--will address challenges currently facing their respective regions.
Thursday, February 16, 2017
School of Social Work Building, Room 1636
[4 pm] Opening Reception
[5 pm] Destruction of Memory
Film showing followed by a panel discussion: Based on the book by Robert Bevan, the film tells the story of the “war against culture” in Syria and Iraq focusing on not just the ongoing actions of Daesh (ISIS), but also revealing the decisions of the past that allowed the issue to remain hidden in the shadows for so many years.
Friday, February 17, 2017
Rackham Amphitheatre and Conference Rooms
[9:40-10:20 am] Africa: Heritage Under Attack
Presentation: George Abungu, Okello Abungu Heritage Consultants (Kenya and Mauritius)
[10:20-11 am] Material Culture and Consumerism- Heritage in Neo Liberal Society
Presentation: Gurmeet Rai, Cultural Resource Conservation Initiative (India)
[11:10-11:50 am] Contest of Archaeological Heritage Management in Mae Hong San, Northwestern Thailand
Presentation: Rasmi Shoocongdej, Silpakorn University (Thailand)
[11:50 am-12:30 pm] Expanding Heritage
Panel Discussion: Alexander Cannon, Western Michigan University; Uthara Suvrathan, Bard Graduate School; and Henrike Florusbosch, Shadia Mahmoud, and Howard Tsai, University of Michigan
[1:50-2:30 pm] Qhapaq Ñan: People, Landscape, and History
Presentation: Giancarlo Marcone, Qhapaq Ñan Project (Peru)
[2:30-3:20 pm] Responses to the Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Syria and Iraq: A Critical Appraisal of Current Efforts
Presentation: Salam Al Kuntar, University of Pennsylvania (USA)
[3:30-4:30 pm] Lessons Learned: What We Share; What We Don’t
Panel Discussion: George Abungu, Gurmeet Rai, Rasmi Shoocongdej, Giancarlo Marcone, Salam Al Kuntar
All events are free and open to the public.
Made possible by African Studies Center’s African Heritage Initiative, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies, Center for South Asian Studies, and Center for Southeast Asian Studies. Additional support provided by Department of Anthropology, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, Department of the History of Art, Department of Near Eastern Studies, International Institute, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, and Museum of Anthropological Archaeology, Museum Studies Program. Funded in part by a Title VI federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
