23.02.2015Freie Plätze im Seminar "Perspectives on the Past in the Present: The Anthropology of Cultural Heritage"

Liebe Studierende der Ethnologie,

es gibt noch freie Plätze im Seminar "Perspectives on the Past in the Present: The Anthropology of Cultural Heritage", die Dozentinnen freuen sich über weitere Anmeldungen.

Perspecitves on the Past in the Present: The Anthropology of Cultural Heritage

What are your criteria to select a place to visit? What makes a place attractive to you when you would like to travel around the globe? Food, history, entertainment or all? What does the Taj Mahal in India, the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul or the Alps in Switzerland mean to you?  When you eat Noodle or Tofu in Europe or fondue in Asia, drink "kimiz" and watch people performing Salsa or Halay (an ethnic traditional dance of Anatolia), do you feel a part of the globalizing world or inventing/recognizing local cultures? 

This course will highlight the logic behind the emergence of "cultural heritage" as a concept, and will try to elaborate on abovementioned questions from an anthropological perspective in relation to key concepts i.e. identity, memory, tradition, religion, power. It will also analyze the connections between belonging to a culture and claiming a certain past (i.e. whether Hagia Sofia belongs to the Christian or Muslim world) in relation to current heritage discourses.

Let's try to understand what makes the Palace of Versailles a world heritage site, "lavas" (a special type of Anatolian bread) an intangible heritage element, Yenish people of Switzerland struggle for recognition. Join us every Thursday between 12.15-13.45 in order to get a different look on the things that are at the very center of our life.