Learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• understand the role which cultural heritage plays in our society, and some of the ways in which it can be beneficial or important to us

• examine and apply the rules of the Hague Convention of 1954 (on protecting heritage in war) in both real and hypothetical examples

• recognise occasions where we might face a dilemma between preventing damage to heritage and preventing harm to human beings and explore the challenges involved in comparing these competing priorities

• analyse some of the key arguments given for and against heritage protection in such circumstances

• connect these arguments to case studies, such as the Notre-Dame fire in 2019, the destruction of Palmyra in 2015, and the bombing of Monte Cassino in the Second World War.