Questions of Ownership: Ethical and Legal Concerns Related to the Treatment of Cultural Heritage Objects

Summer Explorations II

Questions of Ownership: Ethical and Legal Concerns Related to the Treatment of Cultural Heritage Objects 

July 13-16, 2025 

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Over the last decade, demands for repatriation of art objects have been numerous and extensive. Museum collections the world over have faced calls for the return of objects from Benin bronzes and Parthenon marbles to Nepalese stone sculpture and Italian marbles. These repatriation cases raise complex questions about legal ownership and stewardship of these coveted artifacts, but they also relate to issues of cultural patrimony, identity, and memory. Indeed, these material things are more than their materiality; they are intricately linked to cultural identity past, present, and future. As this course will demonstrate, cultural heritage objects are powerful artifacts to own, display, and even destroy. Through our three-day seminar, we will examine recent cases of repatriation and ongoing demands that will allow us to think about the layered and complex realities these objects represent. The Parthenon (Elgin) marbles, for instance, are equally claimed by Britain and Greece. Britain states that these marbles are now part of its own history and legacy while Greece argues that the marbles originated in Greece, under Greek craftsmanship, and were never released under Greek authority. Embedded within such cases are ethical concerns related to claims of universal value, which may be at odds with issues of inheritance. By the end of this seminar, you will have a strong working knowledge of the definitions, policies, and concepts central to cultural heritage discourse (and those who defined them) and be familiar with several renown legal cases. Lastly, we will have an opportunity to think forward to defining new ethical practices of museum collecting and displaying, such as in our own WLU museums and galleries.

Program Cost: $540 per person
On-Campus Housing (Private Room in Dormitory setting): $75 per person

Faculty

Melissa Kerin

Melissa Kerin

Melissa R. Kerin, Director of the Mudd Center for Ethics and Professor of Art History

Alison Bell

Alison Bell ‘91, Professor of Anthropology

Alison Bell

Mark Drumbl

Mark Drumbl

Mark Drumbl, Class of 1975 Alumni Professor of Law and Director, Transnational Law Institute

Isra El-Beshir

Isra El-Beshir, Director of Museums

Isra El-Beshir

Special Guest

Joy Lynn Davis

Joy Lynn Davis

Joy Lynn Davis is an artist and researcher based in Sweden. Her work explores the theft of sacred sculptures from Nepal and the powerful responses of the affected community.