Trinidad Rico: Confronting the ‘Heritage Cult’: religion and heritage preservation in critical heritage studies

The critical turn in heritage studies has focused extensively on the marginalization of local identities and practices in global heritage discourse and its instruments. However, its examination of religious traditions remains invariably under-developed. In this talk, I discuss where and how religion at large has posed a challenge for heritage thinking, the efforts made to redress this, and the future challenges for heritage studies.  

Trinidad Rico studied archaeology and heritage conservation (University of Cambridge). She received a PhD in anthropology from Standford University. Her research interests focus on narratives of global cultural heritage discourse (Global Heritage, Religion and Secularism, 2021) and the role of cultural heritage within the reconstruction of destroyed areas (Constructing Destruction: Heritage Narratives in the Tsunami City, 2016). She has lectured at universities in the UK, Qatar and the USA (Stanford University, Rutgers University, University College London). 

Technische Universität Berlin
Erweiterungsbau, Straße des 17. Juni 145, Raum EB223