Theme
Origins and Ends: The Knowledge Foundations and Social Functions of Cultural Heritage Studies
Opening Speaker
Duan Niudou
Lecturer, School of Humanities, Central Academy of Fine Arts
Guests
He Ding
Associate Professor and Assistant Dean, School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture
Xu Tong
Associate Professor, School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing Forestry University
Time & Location
November 5, 2022
Zhizaoju, No. 33 Longfusi Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing
Organizing Institution
UNESCO World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and Pacific Region (WHITRAP Beijing)
Purpose of the Initiative
WHITRAP Beijing is committed to exploring the formation of contemporary heritage studies as an academic discipline.
As heritage conservation movements continue to expand globally, many universities around the world are working to establish more independent heritage-related academic programs. However, because the field is strongly driven by conservation practice, contemporary heritage studies remain highly practice-oriented and interdisciplinary, leaving room before it can be considered a clearly bounded and fully mature discipline.
Against this backdrop, the organizers hope to take advantage of the field’s diversity, openness, and innovative potential by inviting young scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds to participate in the Youth Heritage Alliance.
While disciplines may contain fundamentally different perspectives and heritage theories may still be incomplete, young scholars often inherit academic traditions while also bringing originality and a willingness to challenge conventions. The organizers believe this is precisely where meaningful dialogue and intellectual exchange can occur, and where a clearer heritage discipline may emerge.
The “Youth Heritage” academic salon series is an experiment born from this context.
Membership Composition
The alliance consists of a core academic group of young scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds related to cultural heritage.
Current members come from fields including cultural heritage studies, museology, archaeology, architecture, urban and rural planning, anthropology, sociology, tourism studies, and art studies.
Members are affiliated with universities and institutions both in China and internationally, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhejiang University, Central Academy of Fine Arts, KU Leuven, research institutes, museums, and related organizations.
Organizational Structure
An academic salon is organized every one to two months.
Each salon invites one scholar to serve as the lead speaker, who selects the topic and may invite additional guests for discussion. After the introduction of the topic, the event proceeds in an open salon-style discussion format. A recorder documents each session for archival purposes.
Participation is by invitation. Around ten participants attend in person, while members outside Beijing may join online.
After each salon, the discussion content is compiled and organized. Depending on the value and depth of the discussion, it may be published either as conference proceedings on the “Peking University Cultural Heritage Research” WeChat public account or as written discussion essays in academic journals such as Nature and Cultural Heritage Research.
Previous Sessions
Review | Youth Heritage Salon Vol. 1: Re-Critiquing Heritage Criticism (Part 1)
Review | Youth Heritage Salon Vol. 1: Re-Critiquing Heritage Criticism (Part 2)
Review | Youth Heritage Salon Vol. 2: Toward De-Secularized Heritage (Part 1)
Review | Youth Heritage Salon Vol. 2: Toward De-Secularized Heritage (Part 2)
Review | Youth Heritage Salon Vol. 3: Echoes of Heritage
Review | Youth Heritage Alliance Salon Vol. 4 (Introduction): Value Protection, Utilization, and Transmission of Linear Heritage
Review | Youth Heritage Alliance Salon Vol. 4 (Discussion): Value Protection, Utilization, and Transmission of Linear Heritage
Review | Youth Heritage Alliance Salon Vol. 5: The Difference Between “Use” and “Viewing” — The Particularity of Architectural Heritage Conservation
Review | Youth Heritage Alliance Salon Vol. 6: Telling China’s Cultural Heritage Stories — Official, Local, and Stakeholder Perspectives
Update | Youth Heritage Alliance Vol. 8: Dialogue Between Local and Global — Beginning from the Mountains and Seas of Quanzhou
