This is a two-day conference taking place on Thursday 10 June and Friday 11 June, 14:00 – 17:30 both days.

Gathering researchers from various disciplines (Archaeology, Anthropology, Political Science), this conference aims at demonstrating that cultural heritage is a relevant entry point to understand the current trends of world politics, such as the changing character of war, the dilemma of humanitarian actors on the ground and the tensions within multilateralism.

DAY 1: 10 June 2021
(All times UK time)

2 p.m. Welcome: Richard Caplan & Mathilde Leloup

2:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. Understanding the political uses of cultural heritage by international organizations in crisis situations

• Dacia Viejo-Rose (McDonald Institute, University of Cambridge), Cultural heritage in conflict: from violence to repair (UNESCO, ICC, TFV).
• Annika Björkdahl (Department of Political Science, Lund University) & Johanna Mannergren Selimovic (Södertörn University), The apolitical reconstruction of world heritage sites by the international community.
• Ammar Azzouz (School of geography and the environment, University of Oxford), ‘Domicide’, the preference of international organizations for monumental sites on everyday spaces.
  Discussant: Chiara de Cesari (Institute for Cultural Inquiry, Berlin).

3.45 p.m. – 4 p.m. Coffee/tea break

4 p.m. – 5.30 p.m. Destruction and reconstruction of cultural heritage in asymmetric conflicts

• Robert Bewley (St Cross College, Oxford and Independent Researcher). Understanding the destruction of the cultural heritage in the Middle East, to raise awareness about its significance and loss, as part of international cultural relations.
• Ross Burns (Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University), Weaponizing monuments: the case of Syria.
• Timothy Clack (School of Archaeology, University of Oxford) and Mark Dunkley (Cranfield University), Cultural heritage in contemporary conflicts: a matter of propaganda. Discussant: Katerina Tkacova (DPIR, University of Oxford).

DAY 2: 11 June 2021

2 p.m. – 3.30 p.m. Military approaches to cultural heritage protection: overcoming the legal approach

• Emma Cunliffe (UNESCO Chair in Cultural Property Protection and Peace, Newcastle University), Protecting heritage in armed conflicts: military and civilian perspectives.
• Tim Le Berre (French army), Protecting cultural heritage during field operations: a French/British comparison.
• Frederik Rosen (Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen), NATO best practices in the field of cultural property protection.
  Discussant: Laurence Whitehead (Nuffield College, University of Oxford).

3.30 p.m. – 3.45 p.m. Coffee/tea break

3.45 p.m. – 5.15 p.m. Protection of cultural heritage and protection of civilians: complementary or competing issues in the multilateral agenda

• Tom Weiss (Graduate Center, The City University of New-York), A False Choice, Protecting Heritage or People?
• Paul Wise (Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University), The Relationship between Attacks on Heritage and Attacks on People.
• Mathilde Leloup (DPIR, Nuffield College, University of Oxford), Protecting cultural heritage and protecting civilians : complementary or competing tasks ?
  Discussant: Rama Mani (CIS, University of Oxford).

5.15 p.m. – 5.30 p.m. Concluding remarks: Mathilde Leloup