Destruction and Documentation: Saving Syria’s Cultural Heritage
Wed, Oct 15, 2014
6:30 PM
Room C198
Since 2011, Syria has been mired in war and destruction. The country’s cultural patrimony has been ruined and is likely to be obliterated. Join Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis as she introduces Manar al-Athar, an open access photograph database aimed at understanding the damage inflicted upon archaeological sites and other heritage structures due to conflict, increasing population, and/or development. This project was started before the current war, but its significance is even timelier as Syria and other Middle Eastern areas are presently under threat. Through a careful examination of pre-war photographs, archaeological reports, and other scholarship, in conjunction with a review of current social media, photographs, and video, the project attempts to assess the damage to archaeological sites and the validity of claims made by all sides.
Cosponsored by the CUNY Digital Humanities Initiative; Middle East and the Middle Eastern American Center and the M.A. Program in Liberal Studies (MALS).
