Duke University Conference on Archaeology, Politics and the Media: Re-Visioning the Middle East: April 23-24, 2009.
Leia e ouça:
:: Duke Conference on Archaeology, Politics, and the Media: DAY 1 – Robert Cargill’s Blog: April 27, 2009
:: Duke Conference on Archaeology, Politics, and the Media: DAY 2 – Robert Cargill’s Blog: April 29, 2009
:: Archaeology and National Parks in Jerusalem: Who owns the past? – Article by By Eric M. Meyers, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA – The Bible and Interpretation: May 2009
One of the most sensitive areas on the political landscape of Jerusalem, which was the focus of my paper and many discussions at the recent conference at Duke University on “Archaeology, Politics, and the Media,” is the issue of national parks in the historic basin, especially in the City of David, and how they tell the story of Jerusalem’s rich and diverse history. In addition, the green spaces being developed in these areas around the walls of the Old City makes Israel’s long-range goals abundantly clear. As Ethan Bronner expressed it so well in a lead story in the New York Times recently (The New York Times, May 12, 2009) the political implications of Israel’s $100 million, multiyear development plan “in some of the most significant religious and national heritage sites just outside the walled Old City” are staggering and are part of a larger strategy to strengthen Israel’s claim to the holy city. Who owns the past and who has the right to narrate it in one of the most sensitive areas on the planet is what is at stake there. The fact that the government of Israel has joined with the settler movement to put archaeology at the heart of the political dispute over Jerusalem is “unsettling” to say the least and fraught with great danger. One Israeli archaeologist recently described the new digs in Jerusalem as “a weapon of dispossession.”
:: Seeking the Sacred Past – Article by Paul V. M. Flesher, Director, Religious Studies Program University of Wyoming – The Bible and Interpretation: May 2009
On April 23-24, 2009, Duke University held a symposium titled, “Archaeology, Politics and the Media: Re-Visioning the Middle East.” Hosted by Eric and Carol Meyers, this meeting brought together professional archaeologists and media personnel from three continents for a general conversation about archaeology, its interaction with media, and the effect on it of political decisions. This was a cooperative and productive conference, with both sides identifying problems and suggesting solutions—ending with clear ideas about how to work together more effectively in the future. The papers will be published in a collected volume by Eric Meyers. Robert Cargill blogged the sessions live; his notes and comments remain online. The lectures also appear in mp3 files at the ASOR Blog. Given this dissemination, the following opinion piece aims not to provide a blow-by-blow account of the papers and their discussion, but to use several of the conference’s papers to elucidate a phenomenon that underlies and drives the problems that were the conference’s main focus.
Agradeço a Jim West pela indicação do último artigo em seu post The Bible and Interpretation: The Duke Archaeology Conference: May 26, 2009.
