Heritage Management in the Arabian World

Catalog description

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.