Syllabus for Cultural Heritage in Peace and Conflicts

Kulturarv i väpnade konflikter

A revised version of the syllabus is available.

Syllabus

  • 7.5 credits
  • Course code: 5KV706
  • Education cycle: Second cycle
  • Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Conservation A1N

    Explanation of codes

    The code indicates the education cycle and in-depth level of the course in relation to other courses within the same main field of study according to the requirements for general degrees:

    First cycle

    • G1N: has only upper-secondary level entry requirements
    • G1F: has less than 60 credits in first-cycle course/s as entry requirements
    • G1E: contains specially designed degree project for Higher Education Diploma
    • G2F: has at least 60 credits in first-cycle course/s as entry requirements
    • G2E: has at least 60 credits in first-cycle course/s as entry requirements, contains degree project for Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science
    • GXX: in-depth level of the course cannot be classified

    Second cycle

    • A1N: has only first-cycle course/s as entry requirements
    • A1F: has second-cycle course/s as entry requirements
    • A1E: contains degree project for Master of Arts/Master of Science (60 credits)
    • A2E: contains degree project for Master of Arts/Master of Science (120 credits)
    • AXX: in-depth level of the course cannot be classified

  • Grading system: Fail (U), Pass (G), Pass with distinction (VG)
  • Established: 2017-06-07
  • Established by: The Department Board
  • Applies from: Autumn 2017
  • Entry requirements:

    A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university.

  • Responsible department: Department of Art History

Learning outcomes

The student should, after completing the course, be able to

regarding knowledge and understanding

  • give examples of interventions applied on sites, buildings and objects affected by conflict with the intention of preserving values and contributing to sustainable development,
  • reflect on how conflicts may contribute to altering heritage, memory and identities,
  • account for the international legal institutions protecting heritage in armed conflicts,

regarding competence and skills

  • look critically at conflict and post-conflict development scenarios,
  • independently write a short academic text with references discussing the role of cultural heritage in peace and conflicts,

regarding judgement and approach

  • discuss appropriate solutions for planning, designing and implementing technical interventions on damaged heritage sites with the purpose of restoring, reconstructing or conserving them,
  • reflect on issues concerning the destruction, preservation and use of heritage.

Content

The course provides an introduction to the social implications of cultural heritage in and after conflicts. Conflict is here understood as a strong disagreement between parties in a society, and as struggle originating in incompatible needs. You will study the meanings and uses of cultural heritage before, during and after violent conflict. In conflicts monuments, museums and other heritage 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 there are often aims of using heritage to facilitate 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 possibilities of using it to promote a peaceful and sustainable development. Students 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.

Instruction

The course will consist of seminars, lectures, and group exercises. There may be an excursion outside of Gotland. Active participation in seminars, exercises and the excursion is compulsory. Absence from any of these will need to be compensated.

Assessment

Assessment will be based on written hand-ins, oral contributions and a final paper. Grades will be given in accordance with the Swedish grading system. The following grades will be used: Fail (U), Pass (G), Pass with distinction (VG).

Syllabus Revisions

Reading list

Reading list

Applies from: Autumn 2017

Some titles may be available electronically through the University library.

Mandatory literature

  • Barakat, Sultan Postwar reconstruction and the recovery of cultural heritage : critical lessons from the last fifteen years

    Part of:

    Cultural heritage in postwar recovery : papers from the ICCROM Forum held on October 4-6, 2005

    Rome: ICCROM, 2007

    pp. 26-39

    Find in the library

    Mandatory

  • Layton, Robert; Stone, Peter G.; Thomas, Julian Destruction and conservation of cultural property

    London: Routledge, 2004

    Selected parts.

    Find in the library

    Mandatory

  • Heritage under attack : motives for targeting cultural property during armed conflict Brosché, Johan; Legnér, Mattias; Kreutz, Joakim; Ijla, Akram

    2016

    Find in the library

    Mandatory

  • Kila, Joris; Zeidler, James A. Cultural heritage in the crosshairs : protecting cultural property during conflict

    Leiden: Brill, 2013.

    Find in the library

    Mandatory

  • Kisić, Višnja Governing Heritage Dissonance. Promises and Realities of Selected Cultural Policies

    European Cultural Foundation, 2017

    E-book. 322 pages.

    Mandatory

  • Luke, Christina Cultural sovereignty in the Balkans and Turkey: The politics of preservation and rehabilitation

    Journal of Social Archaeology, 2013

    Vol. 13:3

    Mandatory

  • Meskell, Lynn Sites of Violence : Terrorism, Tourism and Heritage in the Archaeological Present

    Part of:

    Embedding ethics

    English ed.: Oxford, UK: Berg, 2005.

    pp. 123-146

    Find in the library

    Mandatory

  • Musi, Maja The international heritage doctrine and the management of heritage in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina : the case of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments

    Part of:

    International journal of heritage studies : IJHS.

    vol. Vol. 20 (2014) nr. 1

    Find in the library

    Mandatory

  • Nasser, Rabat Heritage as a Right : Heritage and the Arab Spring

    Part of:

    International Journal of Islamic Architecture

    Intellect Limited,

    vol. Vol. 5 (2016) nr. 6

    pp. 267-278

    Find in the library

    Mandatory

  • Tunbridge, J. E.; Ashworth, Gregory John Dissonant heritage : the management of the past as a resource in conflict

    Chichester: Wiley, 1996

    Chapter 1, 18 pages

    Find in the library

    Mandatory

  • Viejo-Rose, Dacia Reconstructing Heritage in the Aftermath of Civil War : Re-Visioning the Nation and the Implications of International Involvement

    Part of:

    Journal of intervention and statebuilding

    Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK: Routledge, Taylor & Francis, 2007-

    vol. Vol. 7 (2013) nr. 2

    Find in the library

    Mandatory

  • Vos, Claske Debating the reconciliatory use of heritage : European post-monumentalism versus regional national-monumentalism

    Part of:

    International journal of heritage studies : IJHS.

    vol. Vol. 21 (2015) nr. 7

    Find in the library

    Mandatory

  • Winter, Tim Heritage Diplomacy

    Part of:

    International journal of heritage studies : IJHS.

    vol. Vol. 21 (2015) nr. 10

    Find in the library

    Mandatory

Additional literature of no more than 200 pages may be distributed during the course.

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