Museum Talk Title: Conserving Cultural Heritage in Conflict: Cases in Syria, Mali, and Ukraine

The destruction of cultural heritage is almost expected in conflict. Yet, this destruction breaks longstanding international law. Therefore, States and even non-State actors must protect cultural heritage. Further, if destruction occurs, States have a duty to protect cultural heritage before its destruction, prosecute war crimes, and provide assistance for rebuilding cultural heritage. This talk will discuss the destruction and rebuilding of cultural heritage in conflict in Syria, Mali, and Ukraine where rebuilding cultural heritage occurs with the looming threat of further destruction. Overall, this talk will highlight the legal system for protecting cultural heritage and the international community’s response to destruction.

Speaker: Rebekah Mills

Rebekah Mills is a JD/LLM candidate at Villanova University and the University of York. In addition to her history and political science degree from Barnard College, Columbia University, she has her Master of International Affairs from SIPA, Columbia University. She has presented on the importance of cultural heritage preservation, connecting history to archaeology, and archaeological conservation methods at conferences and public talks around the world. Previously, she interned at Rerooted, writing their report on Syrian-Armenian cultural heritage destruction. Further, she was selected to be a part of the 2020 ARCUS Fellowship in Cultural Heritage and Historic Preservation and the 2022 ICOMOS Online Summer School: Heritage in the Shadow of Conflict.

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