Archaeology of Human Rights

This introductory seminar provides a critical vantage point about human rights discourse from an archaeological perspective. The seminar is organized around four main questions: (1) Is cultural heritage a human right? (2) What are archaeologists learning about how the material and temporal dimensions of power and resistance? (3) How is archaeological evidence being used in investigations of human rights violations? (4) Can research about the past shape the politics of the present? Topics to be discussed include archaeological research on mass internment, colonialism, enslavement and coerced labor, ethnic cleansing, homelessness, gender discrimination, indigenous rights, and environmental justice.