The Keynote Speakers

The following Keynote Speakers will talk:

  • Dr Susan Keitumetse (University of Botswana, Okovango Research Institute)

Susan obtained a BA degree (Archaeology and Environmental Sciences) and Post Graduate Diploma in Education (Geography and History) from the University of Botswana. She went on to compete for and win two separate Commonwealth scholarships both to University of Cambridge, UK, where she pursued an MPhil (Archaeological Heritage Management and Museums) and later on a PhD (African Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development). During her post-graduate studies, she combined both environmental science and archaeology disciplines to venture into the broader cultural and heritage management studies with a particular focus on sustainable development and cultural heritage management at the Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge. Following on this background, and with a view to catalyze a linkage between environment and cultural heritage in Africa, Dr Keitumetse conducted various researches and published works that illustrate the relevance of cultural and heritage resources for the broader environmental conservation. She is currently employed at the University of Botswana’s Okavango Research Institute as a research scholar in cultural heritage and tourism where she undertakes applied research in areas such as the Okavango inland Delta World Heritage Site and the Kalahari Desert areas of Botswana. Dr Keitumetse continues to work towards developing a cultural heritage management program for Africa using experience from her work. Of particular note is her developing a conservation model of Community-Based Cultural Heritage Resources Management (COBACHREM) to guide local communities and practitioners’ initiatives towards sustainable use of cultural heritage resources for social development.

 

  • FM Ulla Lähdesmäki (Pirkanmaa Provincial Museum / University of Turku, Finland)

Ulla has worked as a researcher in archaeology and museology at the University of Turku. Since 1996 she has worked as an archaeological researcher in Pirkanmaa Provincial Museum in Museum Centre Vapriikki, Tampere. She is one of the regional heritage authorities responsible for the management, and particularly protection, of archaeological heritage in the Tampere Region (Pirkanmaa).  She is currently finishing her doctoral thesis at the University of Turku, researching the impact of modern land use on archaeological heritage.

 

  • Dr Aron Mazel (Newcastle University, United Kingdom)

Aron joined Newcastle University in 2002 after a 25-year career in archaeological research and heritage and museum management in South Africa. Posts he held in South Africa included Assistant Director of the Natal Museum (1994-1997) and Director of the South African Cultural History Museum (1998-2002). Between 2002 and 2004, Aron managed the Beckensall Northumberland Rock Art Website Project, which won the 2006 Channel 4 ICT British Archaeological Award. Aron’s research interests include the management and interpretation of tangible and intangible heritage; museum history; the construction of the hunter-gatherer past; dating of rock art; and Northumberland rock art. Recent book publications include Tracks in a Mountain Range: exploring of the history of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg (2007, with John Wright), Art as Metaphor: The Prehistoric Rock- Art of Britain (2007, co-edited with George Nash and Clive Waddington), and uKhahlamba: Umlando wezintaba zoKhahlamba/History of the uKhahlamba (2012, with John Wright). The latter book is unique in the South African publishing world as it is the first book on archaeology and history in the country to have been published bilingually in isiZulu and English.

  • Professor Helaine Silverman (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA)

Helaine is professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Illinois where she teaches courses on Peruvian archaeology, Southeast Asian civilization, spatial theory, heritage management, museums, tourism, and anthropological/archaeological perspectives on death. She is also Director of CHAMP/Collaborative for Cultural Heritage and Museum Practices at the University.

Dr. Silverman is an expert on ancient Nasca culture of south coastal Peru and conducted many years of archaeological fieldwork in that region. The attention of popular media to her research led her to become interested in how the past is appropriated, manufactured, packaged and consumed by national governments, regions, local stakeholders, and the global tourism industry. Her scholarship now focuses on cultural heritage issues worldwide, with continued emphasis on Peru and a new research project in Thailand.

She is an expert member of ICAHM, chair of ICAHM’s Nominations Assistance Committee, an associate member of ICTC, a member of Forum-UNESCO, and consults for UNESCO. She is a past editor of Latin American Antiquity, has served on the editorial boards of Heritage Management and Journal of Latin American Anthropology, and currently is an editorial board member of International Journal of Heritage Studies and World Art. She is the author of 4 books and numerous articles, and editor of 11 volumes (including Cultural Heritage and Human Rights, 2007; Intangible Heritage Embodied, 2009; Contested Cultural Heritage, 2010).

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *