Natural and Cultural Heritage in Global Perspective

Natural and Cultural Heritage in Global Perspective

Subject Area
Course Number
ANTH 593 640
Course Code
ANTH593640
Course Key
68805
Day(s)
Monday
Time
5:00pm-8:00pm
Instructor
Primary Program
Course Description
This seminar will explore the ideas surrounding the theories, discourses, and practices surrounding natural and cultural heritage. Heritage has become inscribed in the planning of urban and rural landscapes, designed as tourist destinations, and considered a universal good in global cosmopolitan society. But it would be well to ask: what kind of "nature" and "culture" has been labeled as heritage? What kind of organizations, economics, and politics are necessary to sustain it? How are these put in place? By whom? For whom? Over the course of the semester, students will engage with readings that discuss how cultural and natural heritage is communicated to the public and the relationship between academic critique and pragmatic social engagement. This seminar is further grounded by a partnership between the Penn Cultural Heritage Center and the U.S. Mission to UNESCO focused on the assessment of World Heritage Sites, and students will have the opportunity to learn from and participate in specific case studies.
Subject Area Vocab