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Museums Today: New Approaches to Stewardship of Global Cultural Heritage in Academic Collections
While NAGPRA has provided a legal and ethical framework for the proper treatment of Native American cultural items within the United States, institutions often find it challenging to create a strategic plan for objects from outside the U.S. This presentation will focus on two new projects addressing issues of provenance and restitution of international cultural heritage.
The Waystation Initiative, a program of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA, is a pioneering effort focused on facilitating the voluntary return of cultural materials to their nations and communities of origin. It also helps establish shared stewardship agreements and serves as a hub for individuals and institutions seeking ethical, forward-thinking solutions to the challenges of the ownership and stewardship of archaeological and ethnographic objects.
The Mediterranean Antiquities Provenance Research Alliance (MAPRA), a project of the nonprofit Foundation for Ethical Stewardship of Cultural Heritage (FESCH), teaches students to do provenance research on poorly documented antiquities in academic collections. Ultimately, the goal of MAPRA is to make these objects known to their countries of origin, and to facilitate legal, ethical and equitable solutions to the problem of undocumented antiquities in U.S. collections. Both projects are dedicated to providing resources and support for institutions to right the wrongs of the past.
About Mireille Lee
Mireille Lee is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Ethical Stewardship for Cultural Heritage. She earned her Ph.D. in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology from Bryn Mawr College, and has taught courses on archaeological ethics and cultural heritage for nearly two decades. The Mediterranean Antiquities Provenance Research Alliance (MAPRA) emerged from her current research on the modern histories of ancient Greek mirrors.
About Lyssa Stapleton
Lyssa C. Stapleton joined the UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology in 2023 as the Director of the Waystation Initiative and Administrator of the Graduate Certificate Program in Cultural Heritage Research, Stewardship, and Restitution. In these roles, she facilitates voluntary returns of cultural objects, oversees certificate program students, teaches a course on provenance research, cultural heritage law, and community engagement. Stapleton holds a PhD in Archaeology from UCLA.
How to Participate
To participate, register online, and we will email you a link and instructions for joining the program on Zoom. Simply follow that link at the time the event starts (6 p.m. EST). When you register, you can also request to receive a reminder email one day before the program with the link included.
About the Museums Today Series
Each month during the academic year, museum leaders lead lively online discussions about critical issues in the field. This series is presented in partnership with the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries. Browse upcoming programs