Heritage Studies (HERST-UH)

What is "World Heritage," how is it nominated, and by whom? The heritage field has become a complex industry that involves (inter)national prestige, conservation, site management, and museum development. Heritage sites of "Outstanding Universal Value" and prestigious museums with "universal" collections are booming tourist destinations worldwide. Multi-faceted perspectives of heritage underline the proposition that heritage doesn't just represent a static link with the past, but is part of a dynamic social process that includes an evolving interpretation of "the past" for the use in the present. In this course, students explore and test theoretical conceptions of heritage using case studies and fieldwork on heritage sites and collections in Abu Dhabi and the UAE. These investigations will provide context for understanding cultural heritage's multi-layered and multi-vocal aspects. The focus for our discussions will be sites and practices that are considered "shared cultural heritage" for their Outstanding Universal Value. But what do these values mean, and for whom? Do they imply that universal human values exist? And what if these values are contested?

Heritage has become a commodity. As it increasingly comes into conflict with issues of socio-economics, nation building, ethnicity, race, religion and gender, its protection and promotion have become prominent in the minds of political leaders, environmentalists, artists and tourism planners in the Arab and Islamic worlds. This has created a perceived need to manage heritage and bring it further into the public consciousness. But can heritage be objectively or equitably managed? With Arabian and Islamic identity as its focus, this class explores how the transnationalism of heritage connects cultures and subcultures as shared heritage, but at other times, heritage is a source of conflict and contestation, as is the case with several memorial and archaeological sites and art and artisan expressions of collective memory. Through case studies and meetings with regional/international institutions, such as UNESCO, and heritage practitioners, including archaeologists, artists and community activists, students study theories and management practices, while considering politics of heritage representation in the region.

Memorials to human suffering attract millions of visitors every year. These heritage sites serve a specific purpose as markers of individual and collective memories of a traumatic past. Because of the sensitivity of the subject and the complexity of the transnational stakeholder groups, these sites are often highly contested. In this course the creation of this type of heritage will be analyzed through the comparison of different heritage sites associated with human suffering and now inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Robben Island in South Africa and Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland are still within the realm of living memories while Slave Castles in Ghana and slave dungeons on Zanzibar are not. What impact does distance in time and place have on this type of heritage? How does the practice of both remembering and forgetting affect the interpretation of these painful heritage sites?

Palmyra was one of the great cities of antiquity. For almost two thousand years, its physical remains stood as proud beacons of earlier times. Then suddenly, with the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, much of the ancient city was purposely damaged or destroyed. So too were the Great Mosque of Aleppo and the medieval mausoleums and Sidi Yahia mosque in Timbuktu, Mali. This seminar will explore the reasons cultural heritage has been the target of attacks in recent times and what might be done to protect them. We will consider existing international conventions and statutes and a proposed new international norm. Other topics will include the role of the UN, state sovereignty, humanitarian intervention, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and counterinsurgency. This course a visit to New York's Metropolitan Museum.

Shipwrecks hold multiple meanings. For many, shipwrecks embody the romance of the sea and the lure of treasure. For others, shipwrecks can be seen as a unique archaeological phenomenon. More than any other archaeological site, they represent a time capsule, a snapshot of a society at a particular moment in time. This course introduces students to maritime archaeology through an exploration of underwater cultural heritage and through field work and practical application of this relatively young discipline.

How can we better understand humanity's relationship with the sea? This course applies interdisciplinary and experimental approaches to historical, archaeological and social evidence from the Bronze Age to the present to answer this question. Through analysis of sites, objects and narratives students will explore how this maritime past manifests in the heritage of the UAE and the region. The course will examine the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean as a case study for interrogating the complex human relationship with- and interdependence on- the sea throughout history and in the present. In particular, the class will focus on two periods of significant maritime expansion in the Gulf and Indian Ocean. First, it will explore the earliest origins of long-distance maritime trade in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, and then the expansion of maritime trade routes along the 'monsoon wind systems' in the Early and Middle Islamic periods, as examples of humans' ambitious engagement with their environment.

Can objects of heritage be owned or alienated as property? Who can or cannot benefit from protecting traditional knowledge or indigenous heritage as intellectual property if infringed in developing countries? Is art fraud or forging heritage a crime against humanity or a crime against personal property? Should heritage be favored by public or private ownership? This seminar investigates society's engagement with the past and explores how history is converted into heritage and property into patrimony. By reading landmark civil and criminal cases, court dockets, and policies set by UNESCO, ICOMOS, ICCROM, UNIDROIT, WTO, WIPO, NPS students will debate what should and should not be done to protect and conserve heritage as property. They will compare how museums secure collections and curate heritage management alongside repatriation demands for the restitution of archaeological artifacts to those from which it was taken. Legal strategies including alternative dispute resolutions are reviewed to preserve tangible/intangible heritage worldwide against developing threats by armed conflict, violence, transit/destination supply markets, and the impact of climate change on tourism.

In the 17th century the Ya'rubi dynasty drove the Portuguese from Muscat and East Africa and reinstalled Omani dominance in the region. The Omanis built on the extensive Arabian maritime trade network, that for centuries connected Asia, Africa, and Europe leaving behind cultural traces in buildings, landscapes, shipwrecks, traditions, museum collections, and archives. The resulting cross-cultural footprints, often considered "shared heritage", illustrate a global process of connectivity that facilitated exchange of cultural, technological and ideological knowledge. The influence of cultural exchange systems still echo through the Indian Ocean trade nodes such as Zanzibar and Kilwa (Tanzania), where Omani once ruled and in maritime cultures such as the Swahili. But what was the mechanism of exchange? How was it driven? What remains and how is it understood? Can the values such as those applied to World Heritage Sites be used to investigate how shared heritage is created? These fundamental questions steer us towards understanding the origins and principles of multi-layered and multivocal shared heritage, its production and management. The course includes a field project in Zanzibar.

This course will study the history and theory of museums, and critical issues facing museums, through an investigation of the cultural institutions of Florence. Much of the course will be held in museums and other cultural spaces, along with classroom sessions at NYU Florence. The city of Florence presents a unique opportunity for examining museums. It is a major museum center and most well-known for its former palaces, civic buildings, and churches displaying masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance. But alongside these well-known monuments are great private house museums and museums of fashion, 20th-century art, science, anthropology, and archaeology. We will study this range of museum types, addressing their histories and issues of audience, display, collections care, educational mission, and interactive technology. In addition to attending all site visits, reading required texts and participating in class discussion, students will write two papers and make one presentation.

When societies invoke their past through art, religion, and politics, they often make profound statements about the present. Thus the study of heritage can paradoxically track social change. Such research invites ethnographic experiments in multisensory data collection (e.g. videography, soundscapes, recipes), polyvocal collaborations (e.g. with interlocutors and between disciplines), and multimodal data presentation (e.g. image, text, interactive media, performance). Students conduct fieldwork in Kerala, India, where history and culture have long synthesized global influences. Our study will engage: 1) the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, where contemporary artworks are integrated with historic architecture; 2) sites of material heritage such as the palace and temples of Chendamangalam, a key locus of spice and silk trade networks; and 3) religious rites such as spectacular Theyyam ceremonies. Before and after fieldwork, we explore the politics of heritage and religion, the ethics of ethnographic representation, and practical technical training. Whether as prospective artists, social scientists, policy designers, or coders, students will devise novel forms to document expressive culture.