Events

Featured faculty: Brian Boyd, Director, MA in Museum Anthropology; Co-Director, Center for Palestine Studies

Who decides what is worth keeping? This session examines how a community’s legacy is built through cultural preservation. From physical exhibitions to digital archives, discover what is selected, elevated, or left out, and how these choices shape the record we inherit. We will look at the relationships between museums and representations of the Nakba, the looting of property and antiquities from Palestinian villages and cities, and the journeys of these items to Israeli museums, kibbutzim, and cultural institutions. While bearing in mind concerns about using the epistemologies of the global north at the expense of indigenous frameworks, how can we conceptualize the obligations of a decolonialized museum for the Palestine context?

Part of Masterclass Mondays

Our series hosted by Columbia Global Center Amman connects Columbia University faculty online on Zoom with a live, in-person audience in Amman. This series explores culture and creative practice — from the craft of filmmaking and the life of manuscripts to the ways we preserve and present our shared history. Designed for the curious, join us for an evening of meaningful intellectual exchange. Each session brings together faculty insight and open discussion, creating space for ideas to be shared and explored across disciplines, geographies, and experiences.