The Looting of Mesopotamia: Policy to Prevent Another Tragedy

In the buildup to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Iraqi people knew that when it happened key cultural and archeological sites would be looted. At some sites, museum employees hid artifacts in storage containers and protected them with weapons. But the majority of artifacts, including many in the National Museum, were left vulnerable. As a result 15,000 artifacts were stolen in 2003, representing some of the world's oldest artworks and irreparably damaging Iraq's culture and tourism industry.

Lawrence Rothfield, co-founder of the University's Cultural Policy Center, told this story during a recent presentation at the Harris School. He has embarked on a multiphase project on the protection of cultural heritage during wartime, focused on identifying the causes of failures in protecting antiquities during the Iraqi invasion and offering policy solutions to prevent similar looting and illicit selling of antiquities. Last year, he published those policy prescriptions in Antiquities Under Siege: Cultural Heritage Protection after the Iraq War.

The 15,000 artifacts stolen include many cylinder seals, vases, status, steles, and friezes. "There were some major loses," said Rothfield. "Some pieces that were too big to move were chiseled off. One of the Assyrian lions dating back to 1800 B.C. had its head lopped off." The Warka Vase was also taken; it dates back to 3300-3200 B.C. and is the earliest-known narrative art.

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Race and the American Voter

...Said Taeku Lee, of the University of California at Berkeley, “Whenever I heard someone describing Obama as a post-racial candidate, I bristled. What is ‘post-racial’ being cast against?”

The panelists agreed that what people mean when they describe Obama as a “post-racial” candidate is that he appeals to large segments of white voters while being non-white. However, Cathy Cohen, of the University of Chicago, pointed out that initially black voters were hesitant to embrace Obama. “His legitimacy was brought about by white voters in Iowa and New Hampshire” who voted for him in the primaries.

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Local Aldermen Call for Improved University-Community Relations

Shortly before the Thanksgiving holiday, Chicago aldermen Willie B. Cochran and Toni Preckwinkle addressed the relationship between the University of Chicago and the surrounding community in a talk to Harris School students. The two aldermen agreed upon the need for the University to develop a stronger relationship with its surrounding communities, especially regarding its recent land acquisitions in Washington Park.

Speaking about the history of the area, Cochran said that the Woodlawn community was stable until the 1950s, when demographic changes and divestment ushered in a new era. “Gangs game in, arsons took place, and homicides occurred, and it destabilized the community.”

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