Course 2025-2026 a.y.

Cultural heritage is a legacy, tangible or intangible, passed on from generation to generation. It is a resource for the future, to be safeguarded, enhanced, and promoted, also by encouraging synergies with contemporary creation. Presuming a shared bond and the belonging to a community, heritage can be a multi-faceted source of collective remembrance, understanding, and transformation; at the same time, it can also give opportunities to reinforce identities, creating contrasts and allowing the perpetuation of power dynamics.

This course intends to introduce students to the concept of heritage, deconstructing and reconstructing its notion by examining the processes, practices, and concrete management experiences.

Starting from the Faro Convention—suggesting that heritage is a complex system of elements (material, immaterial, relational)—the discussion will begin with the question: 'What is heritage?'. The recognition of personal experiences will lead to a social understanding of the term, its institutional embodiments and legal enforcements. The course will then analyze how community engagement and participative practices can drive heritage management processes and strategies of valorization. A general overview of the main policies and players in the sector at both national and international levels will be provided to enhance understanding and critical thinking in the field. Through a discursive approach, the last part of the course led by Dr. Francesca Recchia focuses on heritage politics in conflict and post-conflict contexts. The seminars are inspired by decolonial theory and radical pedagogy and will concentrate on questions of self-determination, authenticity and epistemic violence with a particular focus on questions of cultural genocide. Drawing from two decades of fieldwork, Francesca Recchia will bring to class her own experience centering the discussion on the geopolitics of (tangible and intangible) heritage protection in Afghanistan, Palestine and Yemen.

• Identify heritage as a collective good and responsibility, and recognize the diversity of heritage places.
• Understand cultural significance and proper methods for appreciation in the context of heritage management.
• Navigate a rich array of case studies with the capacity to discern diverse approaches to heritage conservation and management.
• Recognize the geopolitical implications of heritage in conflict and post-conflict contexts, with an awareness of concepts such as cultural genocide, epistemic violence, and decolonial approaches

• Elaborate mature reflections on how management responses can harness benefits for heritage and for broader wellbeing in society.
• Act as a future mediator for management innovation in the cultural heritage sector.
• Identify a personal professional interest within the sector.
• Engage critically with heritage management in contexts marked by conflict, occupation, and colonial legacies, applying decolonial and community-centered perspectives.

• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Company visits

The course will merge theoretical and empirical approaches.

• Face-to-face lectures: students will explore some common theoretical frameworks, discuss what is happening in the sector, promote a common language and identify their own capacity to improve practice in the field. Students are encouraged to bring their own views and to share their insights.
• Guest speakers' talks: professionals will be invited to present the challenges faced in the field or cutting edge research and policy work.
• Company visits: if possible, external visits to heritage places, including contact with the organizations and communities involved in their management, allow a first-hand understanding of how they work behind the scenes.

With the purpose of measuring the acquisition of the above-mentioned learning outcomes, the students’ assessment is based on the written exam consisting of open and closed questions aimed to assess students' understanding of the contents. 

The final written exam consists of 2 open-answer questions out of 3. It will be focused on subjects covered in the:

• Course presentations, including those offered during external visits.
• Key texts and other readings suggested in the syllabus.
• Any other learning resources suggested during the course.

In-class participation, constructive interaction and critical thinking will be positively considered.

Students’ assessment is based only on one final written exam consisting of 3 open-answer questions out of 3. No other components are evaluated.

Course materials will be provided by professors and they will include:

• Readings and other materials suggested in the syllabus (core bibliography and wider background readings).
• Course presentations offered during classroom sessions, external visits and guest’s talks.
• Other readings suggested during the course.

Not attending students will sustain the exam on a list of readings and materials suggested in the syllabus, at the beginning of the course.