Judging Heritage: Cultural Property Law and Preservation Policies

Catalog description

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.