Heritage Community Research Articles

Destructive trends in contemporary armed conflicts and the overlooked aspect of intangible cultural heritage: A critical comparison of the protection of cultural heritage under IHL and the Islamic law of armed conflict

AbstractThe destruction of cultural heritage in armed conflicts has gained increasing political momentum and visibility over the last two decades. Syria, Iraq and Mali, among others, have witnessed the intentional destruction of their cultural heritage by non-State armed groups (NSAGs) that have invoked Islamic law and principles to legitimize their actions. The response of the international community has predominantly focused on the material aspect, to the detriment of the significant impact on the associated intangible manifestation of cultural heritage in local communities. This article argues that several Islamic legal rules and principles may, more adequately than international humanitarian law, safeguard the intangible dimension of cultural heritage in certain contemporary armed conflicts in Muslim contexts. It aims to demonstrate the importance of drawing from multiple legal traditions in order to enhance the protection of intangible cultural heritage in armed conflicts and to strengthen engagement with the relevant NSAGs.

TEMPORARY EMERGENCY SHELTER AGARIYAS: A CASE STUDY FROM THE FLOOD PRONE SITE OF KUMANO, JAPAN

Abstract. This study clarifies different issues associated with temporary emergency shelters called Agariyas during floods, in the Kumano, area along the Kumano River in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. The locations and features of Agariyas were identified through fieldwork. To collect and confirm the location and past existences of Agariyas, interviews were conducted with the elderly. Also, a measurement survey was used to collect data on the types, location, floor plan, and material use of Agariyas. The study confirmed that many Agariyas were built after the 1889 flood, the water level of which influenced their locations. However, currently, very few remain. They were mainly minimally furnished with one to two rooms, a storage space, and a small kitchen for a temporary evacuation period. They were built on terraces or mounded ground. Their architectural features differ depending on the owner, but they were most commonly built using wood, and the roof was covered with cedar bark and rounded stones. Younger generations do not know about Agariyas. To increase the local knowledge and awareness of flood disaster culture, it is important to re-evaluate the tangible and intangible heritage in local communities, which includes the effort and wisdom of ancestors related to local disasters. The Kumano-Hongu Shrine and pilgrimage route attract visitors today. However, addressing the experiences and knowledge of local disaster may add value to the World Heritage site.

The Digital Syriac Corpus: A Digital Repository for Syriac Texts

Abstract The Digital Syriac Corpus was launched publicly in May 2018. The goal of the corpus is to provide a venue for publishing digitized editions of Syriac texts. All of the texts in the Digital Syriac Corpus are open-access (CC BY 4.0) and freely available for anyone to use. The Digital Syriac Corpus includes texts that have been transcribed from print sources as well as manuscripts, and it also includes newly produced digital editions. The search feature, including advanced searching options, provides users the opportunity to analyze a large database of Syriac texts in ways that have never before been possible. It is hoped that as the project continues to develop, scholars and readers of Syriac texts will find new ways to use and analyze the data the Digital Syriac Corpus has collected and published. As an open-access digital repository, the Digital Syriac Corpus can also serve as a tool for the preservation of the Syriac language, not only for scholars who study the Syriac tradition, but also for the heritage communities who have preserved Syriac as a literary, liturgical, and spoken language for centuries.

9Memory and Masculinity at Stanford's Arboretum Chinese Quarters

AbstractUsing archival, archaeological, and oral historical evidence, I explore how Chinese men living at Stanford University's Arboretum Chinese Quarters navigated changing attitudes toward gender and race at the end of the nineteenth century. Artifacts helped prompt an intersubjective process of oral history and stories shared by descendants of Chinese employees at Stanford and other members of the local Chinese American community in California's San Francisco Bay Area. Based on these interviews and further research into documents and objects, I highlight two intertwined social spheres for the Chinese population at Stanford, including networks based on business, family, or fraternal organizations, and competitive games and athletics. I show how these men may have forged new ways to perform an emergent Chinese American masculinity by combining practices from both sides of the Pacific. Research conducted between 2016 and 2019 helped produce new senses of heritage for the Chinese American communities at Stanford and elsewhere in the Bay Area.

Maya of the Past, Present, and Future: Heritage, Anthropological Archaeology, and the Study of the Caste War of Yucatan

This paper examines the relationship between the past, present, and future of Maya heritage and archaeology. We trace some of the background of Maya archaeology and Maya heritage studies in order to understand the state of the field today. We examine and demonstrate how an integrated and collaborative community heritage project, based in Tihosuco, Quintana Roo, Mexico, has developed and changed over time in reaction to perceptions about heritage and identity within the local community. We also describe the many sub-programs of the Tihosuco Heritage and Community Development Project, showcasing our methods and outcomes, with the aim of presenting this as a model to be used by other anthropologists interested in collaborative heritage practice.

Turismo cultural como oportunidad de desarrollo local para el municipio de Izalco

La situación de identidad cultural e indígena y el desarrollo local en uno de los municipios más representativos de El Salvador, Izalco, lo distingue como uno de los pocos asentamientos que posee la mayor historia indígena en el occidente del país, por lo cual sus valores culturales se consideran una gran apuesta al turismo. En la actualidad, el municipio enfoca su desarrollo local en base a productos identitarias, como son el ojusthe y sus derivados, la pupusa de maíz elaborada en comal de barro, la religiosidad y costumbres ancestrales. Los cuales vendrán a fortalecer su actividad económica, ya que con ello se logrará impulsar las micros, pequeñas y medianas empresas turísticas. El objetivo de este artículo es indagar si el turismo cultural, en su acepción identitarias y de desarrollo local sostenible, puede contribuir para mejorar las condiciones de vida de la población local e indígena a través de la gestión responsable y colaborativa de los recursos históricos y valores culturales del territorio como patrimonio comunitario. La recopilación de la información se realizó con base en las preguntas derivadas de los objetivos que orientaron esta investigación; se realizó una categorización de las preguntas aplicadas en el trabajo de campo y en las observaciones realizadas en los diferentes escenarios y actores del contexto de esta investigación; se clasificó el material por el grado de importancia de acuerdo con los parámetros de la investigación. El producto de la cultura, de cualquier parte del mundo, tiene una característica diferencial cultural y es allí donde Izalco puede lograr revalorar su cultura indígena, la que generó históricamente acontecimientos de gran magnitud para el país, los cuales se pueden difundir y profundizar para lograr que sea perdurable con el paso del tiempo.

Tracking Trends: A Study of Post-Earthquake Approaches to Conservation in Patan, Nepal

ABSTRACT The earthquakes in 2015 brought Nepal to the centre of attention of the global heritage community. At the Patan Durbar Square and Royal Palace – part of the Kathmandu Valley’s UNESCO World Heritage Site – considerable progress has been made in the conservation and reconstruction of damaged, built cultural heritage, mainly made of brick, timber and stone. Collaborative work between the Institute of Conservation, University of Applied Arts Vienna, the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust and local craftsmen has made an important contribution. An update and review of recent projects in Patan is presented, on the basis of ethical, philosophical and practical approaches. In Nepal, stakeholders in the conservation arena (Department of Archaeology, municipality, community, international actors) pursue widely divergent approaches. While some also apply modern materials and Western-based principles of conservation, others use only traditional, or supposedly traditional, materials and methods. This leads to recurring controversy. In Patan, also owing to the long-term collaboration of Austrian scholars and experts, a balance with remarkable results of earthquake response has been achieved, illustrated here.

Moore College Library's Community Heritage Grant Journey

Moore College Library has successfully applied for four Community Heritage Grants from the National Library of Australia between 2009 and 2019. This report outlines the grant process and describes the conservation projects which have been undertaken on significant collections within Moore College's Samuel Marsden Archives.

Heritage, Conflict, and Reconstructions: From Reconstructing Monuments to Reconstructing Societies

AbstractThis article reflects on the arguments that heritage is as much about people as it is about places and objects. It is focused on Syria and based on a doctoral research project. The article investigates how heritage is approached by both “civil society” groups and extremist religious groups in Syria. It argues that the utilization of heritage by these groups offers learning lessons and examples of people-centered, socially innovative, and future-oriented heritage practices. The article suggests that the heritage community’s efforts in conflict contexts should be less about preservation and more about embracing change and finding creative ways to manage the transformation process from a pre-conflict society to a post-conflict society. In other words, they should tackle issues that matter to conflict-affected people, improve the quality of their life, and increase their horizons of hope and opportunities in assembling better futures.

Health Assets, Vocation and Zest for Healthcare work. A Salutogenic Approach to Active Coping among Certified Nursing Assistant Students.

People’s health assets (HA) mapping process and design dynamization strategies for it are paramount issues for health promotion. These strategies improve the health heritage of individuals and communities as both the salutogenic model of health (SMH) and health assets model (HAM) defend. Connecting and mobilizing HA and strengthens the ‘sense of coherence’ (SOC) are both related to enhancing stress active and effective coping strategies. This study aims to describe the HA present in a population of certified nursing assistant students (n = 921) in Spain and then to explore their relationships with the SOC, the motivation to choose healthcare studies and their academic performance. A great variety of HA were identified and mapped. Findings showed that individuals with greater motivation towards self-care and ‘caring for others’ as internal HA, possessed higher SOC levels and a strong vocation for healthcare work. Differences in HA were identified according to gender, age and employment situation. Consistent connections between the care–relation factor and vocational factor with interpersonal and extrapersonal HA were reported. Evidence and results substantiated the salutogenic and asset-based approach as a proper strategy to strengthen SOC, dynamize their HA map, reinforce the sense of calling and enable Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) students to buffer against caregiving-related stress and thrive in their profession.

Tourists’ Preferences for Preservation of World Heritage Site Stadthuys, Malacca

Preservation of historical buildings and sites is vital to uphold and conserve a nation’s history and heritage. The importance of preservation works on historical buildings and sites in Malaysia towards its tourism industry can be considered as vague, hence the benefit and values of preservation work is still ambiguous. This study estimates willingness to pay (WTP) of domestic tourists for the preservation of UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) Stadthuys, Malacca, Malaysia. This study applied Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) through questionnaires which have been distributed to 100 domestic tourists. The results of the CVM were one of the appropriate techniques to estimate the economic value of the cultural and historical preservation works. On average, respondents were willing to pay approximately RM 8.82 for the preservation of the Stadthuys, in which this value was higher than the current fee, RM5. It demonstrated that visitors were willing to contribute in any preservation efforts of the site and the allocation of money can be used as maintenance cost of the heritage. Public involvement in tourism services demonstrates positive influences on protection of cultural heritage and development of local communities too. The originality of this paper is presented how the field of economic valuation denotes to calculate value for sustainable tourism in world heritage sites.

A Vision to Revive Mud Architecture, a Community Heritage Architecture in Jordan, for Low Income

A Vision to Revive Mud Architecture, a Community Heritage Architecture in Jordan, for Low Income

ОСВІТНІ МОЖЛИВОСТІ ВИКОРИСТАННЯ ГЕОІНФОРМАЦІЙНИХ РЕСУРСІВ GOOGLE В ПРОЦЕСІ ВІЗУАЛІЗАЦІЇ НАВЧАЛЬНОЇ ІНФОРМАЦІЇ

З педагогічної точки зору візуалізацію інформації варто трактувати як інструмент фіксації і трансляції унаочненого навчального матеріалу. У статті розглянуто особливості роботи ресурсів Google, підкреслено їх відкритість, доступність та значний потенціал під час інтеграції навчальних дисциплін природничо-математичного та суспільно-гуманітарного циклу в процесі візуалізації навчальної інформації. Проаналізовано додатки Google Earth, Google Mars, Google Moon, Google Sky, Google Maps, Google My Business, Google Art Project та інструмент Google Street View. Вони при підвищеному попиті на сприйняття великої кількості інформації дозволяють спрощувати подання даних через електронні засоби та ефективно сприймаються всіма учасниками навчально-виховного процесу. У статті описані можливості створення власних карт Google, які сприяють уточненню та деталізації об’єкта, що вивчається, та наведено приклади їх використання. Враховуючи певну трансдисциплінарність таких засобів картографування, подано тематику карт для предметних напрямків з географії, біології, іноземної мови, української літератури, математики, інформатики, історії, мистецтва, хімії, фізики. Розглянуто функцію панорамного перегляду вулиць Google Street View та представлено приклад використання панорамного зображення з кругозором в 360 градусів. Запропоновано поповнити інформаційний банк даних візуальною інформацією, створюючи локацію свого навчального закладу разом з додатком «Google My Business». Описано інтерактивний освітній проєкт Google Art Project, за допомогою якого створюють власні галереї, порівнюють мистецькі твори, деталізовано вивчають оцифровані об’єкти культурної спадщини світової спільноти. Виділено дослідницький, проєктний, міжпредметний та інформаційно-комунікаційний підходи, завдяки яким забезпечується активне використання геоінформаційних ресурсів у ряді предметів природничо-математичного та суспільно-гуманітарного циклів.

The quest for new tools to preserve rural heritage landscapes

This article aims to assess the tool of “grand site paysager” through its first implementation in Wallonia in order to reflect on tools that can preserve rural heritage landscapes. We seek to define the classification logic for this site and its relevance to the diversity of values and activities of site users. The “grand site” tool aims to preserve heritage landscapes of an intermediate scale, between the reserves of a few hectares and the national parks of several thousand hectares, but this tool has several weaknesses. Indeed, the multiple recreational uses seem to oppose the arguments for classification. Moreover, farming is neglected. However, we suggest that recreational value should be acknowledged as a community heritage.

The Use of Recreational Fishers’ Ecological Knowledge to Assess the Conservation Status of Marine Ecosystems

Fisheries scientists and marine resource managers are reluctant to incorporate Fishers’ Ecological Knowledge (FEK) into technical advice procedures to guide management decisions on marine ecosystems and fisheries. However, in data-poor scenarios FEK has proved to be useful to provide alternative references of biological changes. Moreover, despite recreational fishers are the main potential source of FEK, they have been scarcely incorporated in scientific investigations. In this study it has been evaluated for the first time the use of recreational FEK to assess the conservation status of marine ecosystems in Galicia (NW Spain), a region characterized by a highly complex marine socioecological system integrated by a worldwide commercial fleet and a powerful recreational sector, among other relevant stakeholders. Active spear fishers and anglers were recruited to provide their perceptions on the conservation status of fish stocks and on the impacts on marine ecosystems. The audio of face to face interviews were transcribed into text and analyzed by using text mining tools. Acknowledged key concepts were used to quantify fishers’ perceptions on changes in the conservation status of their target fish stocks and to identify and quantify the main impacts on marine ecosystems. Overfishing and habitat loss, followed by biodiversity impoverishment, pollution and ocean warming were blamed by the fishers as the main responsible of poor status of conservation of cephalopods and finfish stocks targeted by both commercial and recreational fisheries. Perceived temporal declines in fish stocks were consistent with available biological data, validating the use of recreational FEK to assess long-term ecological changes in the absence of ordinary scientific data. FEK researchers are encouraged to include inputs of different resource users, including fishers following familiar traditions in commercial and/or recreational fisheries because they were more sensible to detect impacts on natural and cultural community heritage. Conservation status of ballan wrasse Labrus bergylta and kelp beds are especially worrying due to their role as key species in coastal ecosystems. The creation of monitoring programs to assess the status of this fish and other commercially and/or recreationally relevant species, including kelps, are urgently needed to ensure the future conservation of marine ecosystems.

Students Are Stakeholders in On-Campus Archaeology

ABSTRACTA consistent challenge in community and collaborative archaeologies has been the appropriate identification and understanding of project constituencies. A key step in stakeholder analysis is understanding and harmonizing the goals of archaeological work to the social role of the institutions for which we work. To illustrate the value of such a stance, we examine on-campus archaeology programs at colleges and universities, arguing that treating students as vital stakeholders is an important ethical obligation for both researchers and administrators. Including students as stakeholders in campus archaeology provides pedagogical benefits and a meaningful way to instill an appreciation of archaeology in an important constituency of potential voters and future decision-makers. We present a case study from Santa Clara University (SCU), reporting results of an online survey of undergraduates that was intended to gauge community interests in campus archaeology and heritage. We also detail activities undertaken by SCU's Community Heritage Lab in response to survey findings in order to raise the profile of the archaeological and other heritage resources on our campus.

Towards Automated Digital Preservation through Preservation Action Registries

Since the 1960s, digital preservation has transformed from a secondary activity at a select few cultural heritage organizations to a vital international effort with its own best practices, standards, and community. This keynote presentation and paper presents an overview of the changing scope of digital preservation, issues, and strategies for digital preservation in the cultural heritage community.

Machine Learning and IIIF in the Reality Check of Daily Digitization Projects using the Example of the Goobi Community

Digital imaging, as an archival practice, is not a "solved problem" for the cultural heritage community. As Google, publishers, and other content providers digitize and deliver resources at scale, there is an increasingly pressing demand from users to digitize the rich resources in library special collections, archival institutions, and the vast array of invaluable content in private collections. This paper introduces a research and learning initiative (Dig4E-Digitization for Everybody) designed to bridge the knowledge gap that presently exists between well-established or emergent international standards derived from imaging science, on the one hand, and local practices for digital reformatting of archival resources. The paper describes the rationale for the education and training initiative and summarizes the intellectual structure and the technical platform of an innovative sequence of self-paced online resources that can be adapted for a variety of audiences.

Career volunteering as good work in do-it-yourself heritage institutions: A serious leisure perspective

In recent decades, the heritage sector has become increasingly precarious amid the rise of austerity neoliberalism, impacting both the efficacy of heritage institutions and the labour experiences of those who run them. While scholarly literature has regularly examined these impacts for mainstream heritage institutions, little work considers volunteer-run, do-it-yourself (DIY) community heritage organisations. This article takes a serious leisure perspective to explore what constitutes ‘good work’ for volunteers in a DIY heritage institution, the Australian Jazz Museum (AJM). Drawing on interviews with 26 AJM volunteers, we discuss some of the ‘rewards’ and ‘costs’ of career volunteering in this institution. Our research suggests that the conditions for good work are contingent on the efforts of volunteers in management roles, while the conditions for bad work are heightened by austerity policies affecting funding opportunities. The case study also highlights the need to consider the value of work beyond remuneration.

Credentialing heritage: The role of community heritage language schools in implementing the Seal of Biliteracy

AbstractThe introduction of the Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL) has presented a potent opportunity for community heritage language schools to credential the heritage language proficiency of their students in a U.S. context. This study explores the involvement of community heritage language schools in the SoBL initiative. It investigates how seven heritage language school administrators view the SoBL, what they see as its potential benefits, and what barriers they see to its full implementation. Results show that despite many potential benefits for community‐based schools, factors such as the status of the language in the wider community, a lack of articulation with local high schools, uneven parental power, and a lack of appropriate assessments, present barriers to full implementation. The paper concludes with suggestions for how to address these barriers and hopes to provide a roadmap for future collaboration between SoBL administrators and heritage language schools.