Doctoral Dissertation Research: Legal Regulation, Memory, and Cultural Heritage

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD

Investigators

Abstract

This project examines how legal regulation shapes memory and cultural heritage. Focusing on laws and practices governing historical excavation sites and applications for excavation permits, the research asks how state regulation and those governed by those regulations contribute to the production of historical accounts, memorials, and material heritage. The research seeks to advance understanding and theory of how law works in sometimes unexpected or contradictory ways. The broader impacts of this project include the training of a graduate student in rigorous empirical and qualitative fieldwork methods. Doctoral student Onder Celik, supervised by Dr. Veena Das, will conduct this research through an ethnographic case study of laws regulating excavation of sites of mass violence. In particular, the case study will focus on the legal regulation of "treasure hunting" in the search for Armenian treasures in Turkey. The anthropological research will be carried out in five sites in Turkey using field research techniques, including participant observation, interviews, and document analysis.