FYE 101 - Controlling Cultural Heritage: Perspectives from Museum Studies, Philosophy, and Political Theory

What do the Parthenon Marbles, an ancient carved obelisk, and the tattooed head of a Maori chief have in common? They have all been the focus of contested claims over cultural property, specifically for repatriation. Repatriation occurs when a nation (or people) demands the return of objects currently found in another country, often in a museum. Contested claims over cultural heritage have existed for millennia. In our first-year experience course, we will explore several questions from three different perspectives: museum studies, philosophy, and political theory. Among these are: Who controls cultural heritage? What is its political relevance? How do individuals, nations, and the international community create and resolve disputes over cultural heritage? We will investigate different cultural, historical, and philosophical understandings of aesthetics, value, property, and ownership and use case studies — and Wheaton’s Permanent Collection — to study attempts to exercise control over cultural objects. We will consider the beliefs, economics, ethics, political theory, and laws that underpin such attempts and explore their success or failure by critiquing the arguments used to demand the return of cultural objects and to reject such claims.

Credits 1

Compass Attributes
First Year Experience