Historians, Cultural Experts to Examine Issues Related to Heritage and Conflict at UMass Amherst, Nov. 9-10
Oct. 29, 2009
| Contact: | Daniel J. Fitzgibbons 413/545-0444 |
AMHERST, Mass. – The sometimes bitter conflicts over the right to possess and interpret archaeological and human remains from the world’s political and cultural hotspots are the focus of an upcoming workshop hosted by the newly established UMass Amherst Center for Heritage and Society.
Scheduled for Nov. 9-10, “Heritage in Conflict and Consensus,” is aimed at creating a platform for discussion of some of today’s most contentious issues, such as who has the historical right to Jerusalem, the perception of South African history in the post-apartheid era and whether ancient religious shrines can have more than one owner.
“We are seeking ways to bring people together by seeing the world’s heritage monuments and archaeological sites as part of a shared past—even in places of modern conflict,” said Elizabeth Chilton, director of the center and chair of the UMass Amherst department of anthropology. Her goal for the workshop is to establish an international working group composed of workshop participants. “We need to move from conflict to consensus about the importance of cultural heritage—and create educational tools to make that possible.”
Workshop participants will include historians, archaeologists and heritage experts representing projects in Israel, Palestine, Jordan, India and Southeast Asia and the European Union plus members of African American and Native American communities in Canada and the United States.
A number of international organizations, including UNESCO, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, and the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, are sending official representatives to the meeting.
Featured speakers will include Gustavo Araoz, president of the International Council on Monuments and Sites; Karel Bakker, University of Pretoria, South Africa; Michael Blakey, College of William and Mary; Bruce Chilton, Bard College; Laia Colomer, Barcelona History Museum, Spain; Brian Daniels, Penn Center for Cultural Heritage; Gabi Dolff-Bonek?mper, Technical University of Berlin, Germany; Amareswar Galla, University of Queensland, Australia; Brendan Griebel, University of Toronto; Cornelius Holtorf, Kalmar University, Sweden; Richard Leventhal, University of Pennsylvania; Dorothy Lippert and Michael Atwood Mason, Smithsonian Institution; Andreas Pantazatos, University of Durham, U.K.; Max Polonovski, ministry of culture, France; Friedrich Schipper, University of Vienna, Austria; Liz Sevcenko, International Coalition of Sites of Conscience; Isabelle Vinson UNESCO; and Elizabeth Ya’ari, PUSH for Peace, Israel-Palestine-Jordan.
In addition to the invited international speakers, participants from a number of U.S. universities and museums are expected to attend. They will join in the drafting of a concluding text that will establish principles for mediation in heritage conflict zones around the world, said Chilton.
The workshop is the first major public activity of the Center for Heritage and Society, a research center in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at UMass Amherst. The workshop is made possible by a Research Leadership in Action Grant from UMass Amherst. Co-sponsoring institutions include the Institute for Advanced Theology at Bard College, the Penn Cultural Heritage Center, the U.S. Park Service, the Archaeological Institute of America and the Brothertown Indian Nation of Wisconsin.
For more information on the workshop and its invited international participants, visit the Center for Heritage and Society website: www.umass.edu/chs.
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