Course description
Cultural heritage is inextricably linked to national identities. Nation states are proud of their past, their traditions, their skills and crafts, their language and literature and their ancient monuments. They exhibit artefacts in national museums, organise cultural days with regional costumes and local traditions and welcome international tourism to archaeological sites and historic buildings. In this course, we discuss these processes in three neighbouring countries in South Asia (and beyond): India, with a Hindu majority, tribal cultures and a large Muslim minority, is building new temples and redefining international relations with its neighbours. Sri Lanka, which has recently experienced an ethnic war between the Buddhist majority and the Tamil Hindu minority, is returning to old Sinhalese traditions. The Maldives, with a 100% Muslim society and a growing number of international tourists, ignores its pre-Islamic past and celebrates Muslim freedom fighters. These three countries are each pursuing nationalist policies and rewriting their history in a new global context. We will discuss (and search for online evidence) how cultural heritage has been reconstructed in the wake of nationalist development and place these processes in a global context. Seminar participants are welcome to bring case studies from other parts of the world into our discussion.

The seminar addresses the following themes: Cultural heritage, representation of cultures in national museums, nationalism, national identity, globalising cultural heritage, cultural heritage in electronic media, South Asia, India, Sri Lanka, The Maldives

Seminar organisation: Each week one text from a reader will be read in preparation for the next session.

Teaching and evaluation method
Each week one text from a reader will be read in preparation for the next session.
All students will be expected to write three short essays (1.5 to 2.5 pages) during the semester and present them in class. The chosen topic may be from a region beyond South Asia for a more general comparison.
There will be an oral examination at the end of the semester.

Students’ grades will be composed of three pillars:
1. Three short essays (30%)
2. Class participation (30%)
3. Oral examination (40%)

Syllabus

Week 1
Introduction to Identity, Heritage and Globalization.
Compulsory reading:
Sonkoly and Vahtikari 2018. Innovation in Cultural Heritage Research (European Commission); Definitions and University Websites (see word document)

Week 2
Introduction to post-colonial history of India, Sri Lanka and The Maldives
Compulsory reading:
Stein, Burton. 2010 (1998). A History of India, second edition. Wiley-Blackwell.

Week 3
Cultural Heritage policy and nationalism in India
Compulsory reading:
Lefèvre, Corinne. 2020. "Heritage Politics and Policies in Hindu Rashtra." South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal 24/25, no. 2020 (6728): 1-33.

Week 4
Celebrating cultural diversity in India
Compulsory reading:
Kumar, Sarvesh, and Rana P.B. Singh. 2015. "Cultural Heritage Tourism in Ayodhya-Faizabad." The Geographer 62 (2): 66-74.

Week 5
Small Museum and local forms of saving cultural heritage
Compulsory reading:
Hoon, Vineeta, and K.G. Mohammed. 2022. Maliku Museum. Collection of Items in Maliku Museum. online https://www.seacology.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Maliku-Museum-collection-for-seacology.pdf

Week 6
Decoloniality and heritage in Sri Lanka
Compulsory reading:
Haputhanthri, Hasini, Gill Juleff, and Thamotharampillai Sanathanan. 2024. "Hertitage and Decoloniality: Reflections from Sri Lanka." American Anthropologist 1: 1-6.

Wijesuriya, Gamini. 2007. "The restoratiion of the Temple of the Tooth Relic in Sri Lanka: a post-conflict cultural response to loss of identiy, chapter 9." In Cultural Heritage in Postwar Recovery, edited by Nicholas Stanley-Price, 87-97. Rome: International Centre for the Study of Preservation and Restauration of Cultural Property.

Week 7
Crafts and Heritage in Sri Lanka
Compulsory reading:
Handapangoda, Wasana S., Y.M. Himali Madduma Bandara, and U. Anura Kumara. 2019. "Exploring tradition in heritage tourism: the experience of Sri Lanka’s traditional mask art." Journal of Heritage Studies 25 (4).

Wijesuriya, Gamini. 2007. "The restoratiion of the Temple of the Tooth Relic in Sri Lanka: a post-conflict cultural response to loss of identiy, chapter 9." In Cultural Heritage in Postwar Recovery, edited by Nicholas Stanley-Price, 87-97. Rome: International Centre for the Study of Preservation and Restauration of Cultural Property.

Week 8
Architectural heritage in the Maldives
Compulsory reading:
Jameel, Mohamed Mauroof, and Yahaya Ahmad. 2015. Architectural Heritage of Maldives and its Revival Through Tourism. University of Malaya.

Week 9
Heritage and Tourism in the Maldives
Compulsory reading:
Müller, Katja, and Boris Wille. 2019. "Materiality and Mobility: Comparative Notes on Heritagization in the Indian Ocean World." In Travelling Pasts: The Politics of Cultural Heritage in the Indian Ocean World, edited by Burkhard Schnepel and Tansen Sen, , 81-106. Leiden: Brill.

Week 10
Case Studies beyond South Asia
Compulsory reading:
Falser, Michael S. 2014. "From a Colonial Reinvention to Postcolonial Heritage and a Global Commodity: Performing and Re-enacting Angkor Wat and the Royal Khmer Ballet." International Journal of Heritage Studies 20 (7-8): 702-23.

Week 11
Placing South Asian heritage politics in a global context
Compulsory reading:
Wilkin, Neil, Duncan Garrow, and Chris Ryder. 2024. "From overlooked objects to digital ‘icons’: evaluating the role of social media in exhibition making and the creation of more participatory and democratic museums

Week 12
Rethinking “Heritage” in the context of global identity politics
Compulsory reading: TBA

References:
Falser, Michael S. 2014. "From a Colonial Reinvention to Postcolonial Heritage and a Global Commodity: Performing and Re-enacting Angkor Wat and the Royal Khmer Ballet." International Journal of Heritage Studies 20 (7-8): 702-23.
Handapangoda, Wasana S., Y.M. Himali Madduma Bandara, and U. Anura Kumara. 2019. "Exploring tradition in heritage tourism: the experience of Sri Lanka’s traditional mask art." Journal of Heritage Studies 25 (4).
Haputhanthri, Hasini, Gill Juleff, and Thamotharampillai Sanathanan. 2024. "Hertitage and Decoloniality: Reflections from Sri Lanka." American Anthropologist 1: 1-6.
Hoon, Vineeta, and K.G. Mohammed. 2022. Maliku Museum. Collection of Items in Maliku Museum. online https://www.seacology.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Maliku-Museum-collection-for-seacology.pdf
Jameel, Mohamed Mauroof, and Yahaya Ahmad. n.d. Architectural Heritage of Maldives and its Revival Through Tourism University of Malaya.
Kumar, Sarvesh, and Rana P.B. Singh. 2015. "Cultural Heritage Tourism in Ayodhya-Faizabad." The Geographer 62 (2): 66-74.
Lefèvre, Corinne. 2020. "Heritage Politics and Policies in Hindu Rashtra." South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal 24/25, no. 2020 (6728): 1-33.
Müller, Katja, and Boris Wille. 2019. "Materiality and Mobility: Comparative Notes on Heritagization in the Indian Ocean World." In Travelling Pasts: The Politics of Cultural Heritage in the Indian Ocean World, edited by Burkhard Schnepel and Tansen Sen, 81-106. Leiden: Brill.
Sonkoly, Gabor, and Tanja Vahtikari. 2018. Innovation in Cultural Heritage Research. Luxenbourg: European Commission.
Stein, Burton. 2010 (1998). A History of India, second edition. Wiley-Blackwell.
Wijesuriya, Gamini. 2007. "The restoratiion of the Temple of the Tooth Relic in Sri Lanka: a post-conflict cultural response to loss of identiy, chapter 9." In Cultural Heritage in Postwar Recovery, edited by Nicholas Stanley-Price, 87-97. Rome: International Centre for the Study of Preservation and Restauration of Cultural Property.
Wilkin, Neil, Duncan Garrow, and Chris Ryder. 2024. "From overlooked objects to digital ‘icons’: evaluating the role of social media in exhibition making and the creation of more participatory and democratic museums." International Journal of Heritage Studies.

Further readings:
Berger, Peter. 2012. "Theory and ethnography in the modern anthropology of India." HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 2 (2): 325-57.
Hooper, Glen, ed. 2018. Heritage at the Interface: Interpretation and Identity. Gainsville, Florida: University Press of Florida.
Sökefeld, Martin. 1999. "Debating Self, Identity, and Culture in Anthropology." Current Anthropology 40 (4): 417-47.
Woodward, Simon C., and Louise Crooke, eds. 2023. World Heritage. Concepts, Management and Conservation. London: Routledge.

Last updated: July 16, 2025