ISIS and Cultural Cleansing

Dr. Michael D. Danti, FSA (PhD, University of Pennsylvania 2000) will give the Spring 2017 MEMS Colloquium Lecture, cosponsored by the Dresher Center Humanities Forum, Ancient Studies, Political Science, and Visual Arts. Danti has 25 years experience directing archaeological projects in the Middle East, including excavations and surveys in Syria, Iran, and Iraqi Kurdistan. From 1991–2010, his research focused on the Early Bronze Age site of Tell es-Sweyhat near Raqqa and Aleppo on the Euphrates River.  He is Assistant Professor of Archaeology at Boston University, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and a Consulting Scholar, University of Pennsylvania Museum. His work includes archaeological research on the recent looting and destruction of antiquities in Iraq and Syria. Danti serves as a consultant for the U.S. Department of State.  He will discuss ancient and medieval archaeological sites and treasures which have been destroyed or affected and report on what he and his colleagues are doing to address this cultural heritage crisis.

Professor Danti is the Academic Director of ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives, an international, collaborative effort to respond to the destruction of cultural heritage in Syria and northern Iraq. ASOR has assembled a team of scholars with professional connections to leading academic and cultural institutions in Syria, Iraq, the United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, Lebanon, and Jordan. Groups of concerned citizens in Syria and Iraq have been taking action, and ASOR formed alliances and partnerships with these groups.