Researcher ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6888-9892
Graduation Year
2023
Date of Submission
4-2023
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
History
Reader 1
Jonathan Petropoulos
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
2023 Molly E Luce
Abstract
Cultural, historic, and religious sites and objects have a strong correlation with the identity of the community they belong to, in addition to that of humanity. Rosilawati et al. assert that “Cultural heritage and social identity exists in correlation and are interconnected. The shared identity associated with one’s cultural background and historic setting may initiate feelings of pride in one’s culture.”[1]Essentially, the looting and destruction of such sites and antiquities is not only an attack on the tangible, but the very essence of a population. As the War in Ukraine rages on, Ukrainian cultural heritage sites and historic monuments continue to be a target for the Russian forces. It is part of a systematic approach to erase the Ukrainian people. Unfortunately, the destruction of culture during times of war is nothing new and is an ongoing, pertinent issue. This paper aims to uncover why culture so often goes unprotected during conflict and what lessons can be extracted from initiatives to counter cultural destruction in the past.
[1] Rosilawati et al., “Cultural Psychology, Social Identity, and Community Engagement in World Heritage Conservation Sites,” 2.
Recommended Citation
Luce, Molly, "Vulnerable Culture: Protecting History in War and Peace" (2023). CMC Senior Theses. 3235.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3235
