Learning from cultural engagements in community-based heritage scholarship

McGill, Alicia Ebbitt

doi:10.1080/13527258.2018.1475413

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The interviews included five male and three female locals from the Kurd and Arab communities living there, 15 personnel from the national stakeholders involved in the area such as the municipality, the mayor of the region, Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM), as well as the archaeological mission still working on a long-distance basis and the parties involved with the cultural-based community development project (a set of experts, Syria Trust for Development, Tomohi, Nakoun, DGAM, and other related bodies). McGill highlighted the importance of including a range of institutions and individuals in heritage work (e.g., community residents, universities, students, regional heritage professionals, NGOs, cultural organizations, governmental institutions) and demonstrated that close observation of heritage projects helps to develop understandings not only of the communities interacting with heritage places, but also helps archaeologists to understand the impacts and implications of the projects in which they engage for future cultural tourism use [30].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making Change towards Inclusive Societies: The Soft Power of Community Archaeology in Building Cultural Heritage in Mozan, Syria

Moualla

McPherson

2019

Sustainability

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This paper investigates the soft power of community archaeology in transforming isolated and diverse communities into a more inclusive society, by reviewing community archaeology as a concept, and as a process, through the case of inclusive cultural heritage in Mozan, Syria. A theory of change underpinned key interventions in Mozan to track shifts in the social behaviour of locals from cultural isolation towards participation, partnership and inclusion, while investigating the process of establishing understanding, acceptance and mutual trust within communities. The research adopted an ethnographic study and used qualitative research methods. These relied primarily on direct observations and open ended, semi-structured and in-depth interviews with local communities, an archaeological mission and governmental and civic stakeholders involved in the area. The fieldwork research was informed by conducting a review of literature on the impact of culture and heritage in social contexts, social inclusion and cultural diplomacy. The paper demonstrates how the contribution of community archaeology in soft power change has assisted personal and community empowerment through inclusive cultural heritage on an individual level while strengthening social networks to mobilise the impact on the community as a whole. It reveals how such a project enhanced dialogue, increased awareness, and built and contributed to mutual understanding in order to support a shift in the harder area of symbolic community thinking and attitude, against a backdrop of conflict, war and isolation and builds the basis for inclusive cultural heritage tourism.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making Change towards Inclusive Societies: The Soft Power of Community Archaeology in Building Cultural Heritage in Mozan, Syria

Moualla

McPherson

2019

Sustainability

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“…Heritage programmes encompass a broad range of complex and sensitive topics that extend far beyond the preservation of tangible artefacts. Such programmatic complexity inevitably leads to questions about effective programme design and programme impacts, as implied by McGill's (2018) reflection in the introduction of this article. In response, we discussed two examples and explored how a foundational evaluation technique, programme modelling, can serve the field of heritage studies in the design and delivery of such programmes.…”

Section: Implications For Heritage Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within heritage management, the term 'evaluation' typically refers to an assessment of the number of 'things' conserved or preserved, or an analysis of the socio-economic impacts of preservation activities (Rudokas et al, 2019). Although these quantitative measures are important, we echo McGill's (2018) reflection on how 'we as heritage professionals assess the benefits of heritage initiatives ' (p. 1080). In other words, how might heritage managers and other stakeholders evaluate the effectiveness of 'heritage enterprises … entities whose missions include heritage education, management and/or conservation' (Kimball, 2017, p. 3)?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards More Meaningful Evaluation of Cultural Heritage Programmes: Engaging Stakeholders Through Programme Modelling

Jewiss

Laven

2021

Journal of Heritage Management

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Recently, cultural heritage scholars and practitioners have questioned how the field evaluates heritage initiatives. This article considers how a collaborative approach to evaluation may enhance heritage initiatives, particularly at critical developmental stages in their design and implementation. We explore how recent developments in evaluation theory and practice serve interests shared by heritage programme managers, funders and other stakeholders. In particular, programme modelling techniques have proven valuable for engaging a wide array of heritage stakeholders (including staff, funders and site owners). A programme model provides a graphic representation of how a programme is intended to achieve its goals. Programme models have become prevalent in other disciplines, and many government and philanthropic funders require their inclusion in funding proposals and progress reports. However, such models—and the collaborative, stakeholder-driven processes used to develop them—are largely absent from heritage studies. Examples from the US National Park Service ( https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/index.htm ) and Cultural Heritage without Borders-Albania ( http://chwb.org /) illustrate how these techniques serve important learning and evaluation needs identified by heritage programmes. These contrasting examples demonstrate how programme modelling can enhance programme design, communications and reflective practice among a cross-section of programmatic actors. The concluding discussion explores the implications of programme modelling for the future of heritage management.

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“…Our first public outreach initiative in the village occurred in the summer of 2016 and involved a collaborative, interdisciplinary humanities project, which culminated in a temporary community exhibit at the Crooked Tree Visitor's Center, a building managed by the Belize Audubon Society. This public history exhibit featured information on contemporary ethnographic research in Crooked Tree, which was led by Dr. Alicia McGill of NC State [33,34]. The BREA team contributed several panels for the exhibit featuring the "deeper history" of the Creole, which we gathered through our oral history, archival, and archaeological research.…”

Section: Project Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making Space for Heritage: Collaboration, Sustainability, and Education in a Creole Community Archaeology Museum in Northern Belize

Harrison‐Buck

Clarke-Vivier

2020

Heritage

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Working with local partners, we developed an archaeology museum in the Creole community of Crooked Tree in the Maya lowlands of northern Belize. This community museum presents the deep history of human–environment interaction in the lower Belize River Watershed, which includes a wealth of ancient Maya sites and, as the birthplace of Creole culture, a rich repository of historical archaeology and oral history. The Creole are descendants of Europeans and enslaved Africans brought to Belize—a former British colony—for logging in the colonial period. Belizean history in schools focuses heavily on the ancient Maya, which is well documented archaeologically, but Creole history and culture remain largely undocumented and make up only a small component of the social studies curriculum. The development of a community archaeology museum in Crooked Tree aims to address this blind spot. We discuss how cultural sustainability, collaborative partnerships, and the role of education have shaped this heritage-oriented project. Working with local teachers, we produced exhibit content that augments the national social studies curriculum. Archaeology and museum education offer object-based learning geared for school-age children and provide a powerful means of promoting cultural vitality, and a more inclusive consideration of Belizean history and cultural heritage practices and perspectives.

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Learning from cultural engagements in community-based heritage scholarship

Cited by 9 publications

References 19 publications

Making Change towards Inclusive Societies: The Soft Power of Community Archaeology in Building Cultural Heritage in Mozan, Syria

Making Change towards Inclusive Societies: The Soft Power of Community Archaeology in Building Cultural Heritage in Mozan, Syria

Towards More Meaningful Evaluation of Cultural Heritage Programmes: Engaging Stakeholders Through Programme Modelling

Making Space for Heritage: Collaboration, Sustainability, and Education in a Creole Community Archaeology Museum in Northern Belize

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