Description
This course examines the intersections between culture, heritage, property, and the law and focuses on the interactions between the law and tangible and intangible cultural objects, spaces, and heritage, both in the international context as well as the local context. The course will draw from the international realm of cultural heritage law and the human right to culture and heritage, Canada’s legal framework for the governance of cultural material and space, Indigenous perspectives, as well as local museum and archival policies and city-based heritage preservation strategies in order to undertake a selective overview and survey of topics including dispute resolution mechanisms pertaining to claims for the return of cultural objects; the transnational movement and trade of cultural material and art; divergent stakeholder interests in cultural property, such as universalist perspectives, decolonial approaches, and museum policies; and tools for the governance and management of cultural heritage spaces within cities. This course is designed to create space for students to think critically about the topics covered in the course, engage with international frameworks for cultural heritage protection as well as local cultural heritage spaces, objects, and local legal frameworks for their protection. This course is also intended for students to work towards applying this knowledge to their own interest areas by crafting their own argument for and presentation of a cultural heritage space, property, object, or concept of their choosing. Utilizing a Discussion Leader format, there is time and space built into each class for students to further explore their own engagement with the class materials.MELAW Specializations: LAWS 2283: Cultural Property and Heritage Law in a Transnational Context is an elective course for the Marine Law specialization and the Environmental Law specialization.