Seminar for students of the Faculty of Law (including exchange students) and students of the Master Programs in Modern East Asian Studies (MEAS) and Southeast Asian Studies (SEAS) - Summer term 2019
co-taught by Guest Professor Stefan Gruber (Kyoto University) and Prof. Moritz Bälz
Date of block sessions: 28 to 30 June 2019, 10:00-18:00 Room RuW 1.101.
An introductory session will be held on February 14 2019 at 6 pm in RuW 2.102, where topics for student presentations will be assigned.
Depending on demand, it may be possible to join the seminar later. Please contact Prof. Bälz and indicate three preferences with regard to your topic from the list.
Contact for organizational matters: Professor Moritz Bälz: Baelz@jur.uni-frankfurt.de
Contact for questions regarding individual topics and other content-related matters: stefan.a.k.gruber@gmail.com
Requirements to gain credits (Leistungsnachweise):
Law Students: The course can be taken for credit as seminar in the concentration (Schwerpunkt) Internationalisierung und Europäisierung. It alternatively – or even in addition – counts as course in foreign legal terminology (fremdsprachige Rechtskenntnisse).
Grading will be based 1/3 on the oral performance (presentation of 15- 20 minutes (2/9) and participation in class discussions (1/9)) and 2/3 on the written paper (15 pages excl. references etc.). Deadline for submission of written papers is 30 August 2019 (searchable pdf by email to baelz@jur.uni-frankfurt.de).
MEAS Students: The course counts as legal elective. Exam registration (MEAS): with Philprom via QIS/LSF 3 June to 21 June 2019. Withdrawal from exam registration (MEAS): with Philprom via QIS/LSF, up to one week before exam date/submission of paper.
Students are expected to present orally (15- 20 minutes) and hand in a written paper (15 pages excl. references etc.), but grading will be based exclusively on the written paper (as the Study Rules do not allow for considering the oral presentation). Deadline for submission of written papers is 30 August 2019 (if failed or excused for sickness or other important reason deadline for second attempt is 30 September 2019). Please send papers as searchable pdf to the following address: baelz@jur.uni-frankfurt.de).
SEAS Students: The course counts as elective 8.1. Requirements equal those for MEAS students described above.
Course Description
This intensive course will focus on heritage protection law at the international and national levels and its practical and political challenges. It will provide an overview of domestic laws that are dedicated to protecting cultural and natural heritage, relevant international treaties, human rights, sustainable development, and other related public and civil efforts to combat the continuing deterioration and loss of heritage. The course will also respond to the growing interest in cultural heritage protection law in recent years, particularly as many countries prioritise heritage protection measures, international heritage listings, such as the World Heritage List, and the development of cultural policies in their agendas for political purposes. However, such government-led approaches usually ignore the needs and wishes of local communities, minorities, and other stakeholders who might have different perspectives on what constitutes heritage, how it should be identified, and who should oversee its management and protection. This underscores the political element of heritage, which is especially true for heritage that represents suffering, such as the World Heritage sites of Robben Island, Auschwitz, and the Hiroshima Peace Dome, or heritage where ownership is contested, such as the classification of Hebron as a Palestinian World Heritage site, to which Israel and the United States responded by leaving UNESCO. Not only is the protection of heritage often a political matter, but so too is its destruction, as was demonstrated by, for instance, the actions of the Taliban and the Islamic State in recent years. Moreover, the trafficking of cultural artefacts was identified by INTERPOL as being the third most profitable illegal trade with an annual revenue in the billions. All these factors contribute to an increasingly complex range of rules to address those challenges and competing interests, which will be covered in this course.
Case studies will be drawn primarily from Asia and beyond to consider the specific challenges which decisionmakers and stakeholders face as well as to highlight the negative side effects of rapid economic growth, poorly regulated change, conflict between political aims and agendas, and unsustainable development in the context of cultural heritage. These studies will inter alia focus on the destruction of heritage in favour of development projects and/or political endeavours, the gentrification and loss of ancient cities and traditional communities, the looting and illegal trade in cultural artefacts, the decline of cultural diversity, pollution and the degradation of natural heritage, and the pressure placed upon minority peoples and other culturally distinct communities.
In addition to introducing international and national heritage law, the course will consider the regional, political, economic and cultural contexts and explore the challenges of implementing relevant international law at the national level. By the end of the course, students will have achieved detailed knowledge of relevant legal concepts and the capacity to engage in critical analysis of the rules and principles governing international and national heritage laws. Students will have also gained experience in problem-solving, analyzing complex fact situations, and applying comparative methodologies within a legal context.
