The year 2025 mark 10 years of UT Austin’s Antiquities Action organization, a group of faculty, staff, students, and community members united by the promotion of education, research and action for the care and safeguarding of cultural heritage globally. As we prepare to celebrate 10 years of our organization’s activities, we are struck by the fact that a decade after our initiation the world is still dealing with heritage destruction for political gain and are inspired by how communities are fighting this destruction from within to make positive changes.
This year's theme, Cultural Heritage in Conflict Zones: Protecting Antiquities During War, will explore the profound impact of armed conflict on cultural heritage and center global efforts to safeguard, recover, and preserve ancient artifacts and sites under threat. From the intentional destruction of historical sites to the illicit trafficking of looted antiquities, the preservation of cultural heritage in conflict zones is more critical than ever. The symposium aims to foster an interdisciplinary dialogue on both the challenges and strategies for mitigating these risks and ensuring the protection of our shared global history.
Schedule and Abstracts
10:00
Tea & Coffee / Welcome / Overview of Symposium Themes
Heritage and Conflict in South Asia
10:30
War, Displacement, and Cultural Erosion: The Performance Culture in Sri Lanka’s War Zone
Chamila Gunamunige
10:50
Heritage Under Siege: Cultural Erasure and Warfare in South Asian Conflicts
Nadeem Omar
11:10
Intangible Cultural Heritage in Conflict Zones: The Case of Pashto Cassette Culture in Pakistan
Ashraf Kakar
11:30
Discussion
12:00
Lunch Break
Heritage as Imperium: Authoritarian Uses of the Past
12:30
Syria’s Heritage After Assad: Destruction, Reconstruction, and Representation
Nour Munawar
12:50
Erasing Heritage: The Impact of Reconstruction on the Historical and Cultural Identity of Diyarbakır’s Sur District
Münevver Özdemir
1:10
Ethics of Discovery: Chronicling the Neolithic Art of Tassili n’Ajjer in the Twentieth Century
Sheyda Aisha Khaymaz
1:30
The Past as Propaganda: Russian Orthodoxy and Imperialism at Crimean Chersonesos 2014–2024
Adam Rabinowitz
1:50
Discussion
2:15
Tea & Coffee Break
Community Strategies for Heritage Renewal
2:30
Community Archaeology in Lebanon: A Path for Heritage Protection
Nelly Abboud
2:50
Sudan’s Stolen Past: The War in Sudan and the Local and Global Responsibility to Combat Looting
Anwar Mahagoub Ali Mohamed
3:10
Al Mudhif A Confluence – Philadelphia 2021: Communicating Through Cultural Heritage
Yaroub Al Obaidi
3:30
Discussion
4:00
Break
Closing Session
4:15–5:30
Introduction of Keynote Speaker
Keynote
Conquest Archaeology: Landscape as Archive and The Vestiges of War
Zainab Bahrani, Edith Porada Professor of Art History and Archaeology
Department of Art History and Archaeology
Columbia University
Discussion
Final Reflections on Cultural Heritage in Conflict Zones and Vote of Thanks
6:00
End of Symposium