Theme: Fragile Heritage

Preserving Cultural Heritage: What Can We Do?

A panel of experts will discuss how the world is responding to the destruction of cultural heritage in Syria and Iraq, and, more broadly, what can be done to preserve cultural heritage throughout the world.

Who are the Custodians of Cultural Heritage?

An eminent panel of speakers will explore who owns and preserves cultural heritage.

Cultural Heritage: Why Does It Matter?

Experts will explore why the destruction of cultural heritage is important psychologically, historically and architecturally.

Cultural Heritage and the Islamic State

Alia Brahimi, a specialist in terrorism and political trends in the Middle East and North Africa, will provide the background to the destruction of cultural heritage in Syria and Iraq.

Histories of the Middle East: Then and Now

Join Toby Dodge of the London School of Economics and Political Science - a world-acclaimed expert on Iraq and the Middle East - as he discusses the evolution of Iraq since its creation following World War I.

Shared Heritage: West and Islamic World

The media often present Islam and the West as two separate worlds. Many public commentators fail to see how Western society and the Islamic World share common cultural roots in our classical heritage. The Romans and Greeks left a shared patrimony of scientific imagination and arts, but also myths and legends. Join us to learn how the English in the Middle Ages shared a similar vision of the past with Muslims of the time.