Cultural Heritage in Peace and Conflicts

This course provides an introduction to the social implications of cultural heritage during and after conflicts. For the purposes of the course, conflict is defined as a strong disagreement between parties in society, and as a struggle originating in incompatible needs. You will study the meanings and uses of cultural heritage before, during and after violent conflicts. In conflicts, monuments, museums and other heritage institutions do not just become targets. They have often been used for ideological and state-building purposes long before an intra-state or interstate conflict reaches a violent stage. When international actors intervene in post-conflict development, it is often with the aim to use heritage to help promote a more tolerant, inclusive and peaceful society, but such instrumental aims may be obstructed by existing group identities, notions of heritage, poorly planned interventions and other factors. The course deals with the complexity of heritage in conflicts as well as with the possibility of using it to promote peaceful and sustainable development. You will not only be introduced to the problems associated with heritage in conflict areas, but also to practical and technical interventions on sites with the constructive aim of preserving them or giving them new functions.