Using History to Teach Microcomputers

Abstract

Delegate level analysis of the U.S. Constitutional Convention has been limited because the Convention did not record delegate votes. In this article, we introduce the Constitutional Convention Research Group Dataset, which contains 5,121 inferred delegate votes on 620 substantive roll calls at the Convention. The Constitutional Convention Research Group Dataset represents a significant improvement over previous datasets such as those compiled by McDonald (1958) and Dougherty and Heckelman (2009), and datasets based on votes recorded for state blocs (Jillson 1981, 1988).     

2008 Cultural Heritage Legal Summary

Abstract

In the past year acceptance of the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict received significant impetus with the vote of the U. S. Senate to ratify the main Convention and the drafting of legislation by the United Kingdom and New Zealand that would implement the Convention and both Protocols. Efforts by the United States to continue implementation of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property continued with import restrictions imposed under the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (1983). At the end of the year, the dispute between Peru and Yale took an ominous turn, while new amendments enacted by the U. S. Congress in January 2008 to facilitate the recovery of property belonging to state sponsors of terrorism in the United States by victims of terrorism continue to cause problems for several leading American cultural institutions.     

Binding Gestures: a customary norm regarding the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child?

ABSTRACT

In March of 2017, officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security publicly acknowledged a proposed policy of forced separation of unauthorized migrant children from their parents. Conceived as a deterrent to other families that might yet contemplate crossing the U.S. southern border, the proposal sought to formalize and expand on similar practices of deterrence already implemented on a more ad hoc basis. By way of a brief examination of the internal logics and implications of deterrence thinking in this context and more broadly, fundamental incompatibilities with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child are revealed. Although the U.S. has not ratified the Convention, I argue that it is nonetheless beholden to a robust and binding customary norm of international law obliging all states to respect its key provisions, including rights that would prohibit the separation of children from their parents as a preemptive measure to deter unauthorized migration.     

The meaning of 1970 for the acquisition of archaeological objects

Abstract

Many museum and professional associations, particularly in the United States, have adopted a 1970 standard for the acquisition of archaeological materials–that is, in recognition of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, archaeological objects should be documented has outside of their country of origin before 1970 or have been exported legally after 1970. This article explores the extent to which this standard has been adopted, its influence on restitutions and claims for restitution of archaeological objects, and the policies that this standard attempts to promote.     

Malta’s Unintentional Consequences: Archaeological Heritage and the Politics of Exclusion in the Netherlands

Abstract

We argue that the apparently successful implementation of the European Malta Convention (1992) in the Netherlands resulted in a relatively closed archaeological policy system, which separates ordinary people from experts. As a result, citizens were increasingly excluded from the archaeological process. The process of closure and exclusion is made visible by investigating Dutch amateur archaeologists and their changing roles within Dutch archaeology. Amateur archaeologists are a group of semi-experts often deemed essential to the quality of research and policy regarding archaeological heritage. Their marginalization after Malta caused discussion and frustration, undermining public support for the initial policy goal of the Malta Convention: conservation of archaeological heritage. Our analysis draws on recent academic debates concerning the policy-practice nexus in processes of Europeanization. Reducing negative side effects and re-targeting policies for greater efficacy and democracy requires insight into the pathways of implementation.     

Becoming a conservation ‘good power’: Norway’s early World Heritage history

Abstract

States stand at the core of the World Heritage Convention and their multifaceted interstate relations have been a central subject in contemporary World Heritage research. Less research has been directed towards intrastate relations, that is relations between organisation-agencies and individual agents within a State Party. Spurring from the 40th anniversary of Norway’s ratification of the World Heritage Convention, this paper utilises archival records to explore the intrastate relations and transactional authority at play within the State Party of Norway. Inspired by recent research in international relations and political science, it analyses Norway’s ratification process (1972–1977) through its early years as an observer (1978–1983) to its first committee tenure (1983–1989). Currently known as one of the spokespersons for scientific advice, returning to the 1980s provides an opportunity to reflect on how Norway laid the foundations for becoming a conservation ‘good power’ through its actions and responses to other states’ lobbying efforts.     

2009 Cultural Heritage Legal Summary

Abstract

In 2009, nearly 55 years after the U.S. participated in the drafting of the first international convention to exclusively address the protection of cultural property, the U.S. ratified the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. New developments concerning the U.S.’ implementation of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property through its legislation, the 1983 Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, continue to expand and test the parameters of the role of the U.S. in this international treaty regime. Finally, claims, recoveries, and restitution of looted, smuggled, and stolen cultural artifacts continued.     

United States: Responses to the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage

While the US is not a signatory to the 2001 UNESCO Convention, much progress has been made by US agencies to implement its Rules and principles. The US signed an Agreement on Titanic with Rules that are nearly identical to the UNESCO Convention. US agencies have also expressed support for the Rules and their implementation into their programs. This paper identifies these positive actions as well as the two primary concerns that have prevented the US from signing the Convention to date: (1) “creeping coastal State jurisdiction” and (2) treatment of sunken state vessels.     

The concept of ‘outstanding universal value’ in the World Heritage Convention

Abstract

The basic criterion for inclusion of a property on the World Heritage List is that of ‘outstanding universal value’, as defined in the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention. The paper demonstrates the problems encountered in attempting to apply the concept of universality to material culture; this is reflected in the cultural and regional imbalances in the present List. It is recommended that there be a moratorium on the addition of further properties already well represented on the List and that active steps be taken to include types of cultural property and geocultural regions that are currently underrepresented, such as industrial heritage, cultural landscapes and nonmonumental cultures.     

2010 cultural heritage legal summary

Abstract

The year 2010 was a relatively quiet one for legal developments with respect to archaeological heritage. Some court decisions that were expected this year, such as that concerning foreign sovereign immunity for artifacts on loan from Iran to the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, did not materialize, while other disputes remain on appeal, such as that involving the disposition of 500,000 gold and silver coins taken from an early 19th century Spanish shipwreck by Odyssey Marine. One of the most closely watched cases, the trial in Italy of the former J. Paul Getty Museum curator, Marion True, ended inconclusively when time ran out for the prosecution. Nonetheless, recovery and restitution of cultural objects that were brought illegally into the United States continued, as did controversies concerning the bilateral agreements concluded between the United States and other nations, pursuant to the 1983 Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, the United States' legislation implementing the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. The following review focuses on legal developments primarily in the United States, as the United States participates in international treaty regimes to protect cultural heritage.     

Cooperation is the Key: We Can Protect the Underwater Cultural Heritage

The 2001 UNESCO Convention represents the will of the international community to establish a legal instrument specific to the world’s threatened underwater cultural heritage. This article introduces its history and purpose, and the geographical distribution of ratifications. It highlights UNESCO’s facilitating role and advocacy for the Convention, and the initiatives of the ICOMOS International Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage, the Society for Historical Archaeology, and the Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology in support of its development, ratification, implementation, and the adoption of its Annex as a “best practices” document, even where ratification is unlikely. It provides a context for articles that follow.     

Trade,culture and the European Union cultural exception

ABSTRACT

The article examines how the European Union has addressed the ‘trade and culture debate’ in its international trade agreements. From a cultural exception approach based on an attempt to detach culture from trade provisions, the European Union economic agreements seem to evolve to a broader and more holistic position aiming to promote cultural exchanges through cooperation, while still safeguarding policy space in cultural matters through its traditional cultural exception. The article provides an overview of the European positions to defend the specificity of the audio-visual services sector at the multilateral (World Trade Organization Agreements), regional and bilateral levels. It also examines how the implementation of the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions has led the European Union to negotiate cultural cooperation provisions in parallel to some of its recent bilateral and regional trade agreements and the way this Convention may impact the understanding of the ‘trade and culture debate’.     

‘The realities of power’: David Stoll and the story of the 1982 Guatemalan genocide

ABSTRACT

In a short opinion piece published in late 2013, anthropologist David Stoll claimed that genocide did not occur in Guatemala under the military dictatorship of José Efraín Ríos Montt (1982–83), that the charges against the former general and his subsequent conviction were unsubstantiated, and that human rights conditions for the country’s Indigenous peoples, including the Ixil population of northern Quiché department, actually improved under his government. By looking at the definition of protected groups under the United Nations Genocide Convention, and such basic notions as perpetrator motives and intent in international humanitarian law, this article will address Stoll’s latest contribution to a ‘counter-narrative by Guatemalans who perceive that their side of the story [was] left out’ of the 2013 genocide trial.     

Inaccessible childhoods: evaluating accessibility in homes,schools and neighbourhoods with disabled children

Accessible built environments are a critical component of Canada’s commitment to disabled children’s ‘right to enjoy full and decent lives’ [United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. 1989. Convention on the Rights of the Child. New York. [Google Scholar]. Convention on the Rights of the Child. New York.] . Although valid, reliable research data about the accessibility of built environments are key to developing related policies, these data currently do not exist. To begin to redress this gap, we conducted a case study series followed by a survey to determine the accessibility of schools, homes and neighbourhoods directly from disabled children (The ScHaN Project). To present a concise summary of the findings that can inform equitable, evidence-based policies, we developed a scoring system for their homes, schools and neighbourhoods. Although our findings illustrate that eliciting and interpreting data from these children were complex undertakings, it is clear that none of these central environments met Canada’s obligation to enhance equity by enabling their access, inclusion and participation.     

On the construction of ‘outstanding universal value’: Some comments on the implementation of the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention

Abstract

A number of imbalances in the implementation of the World Heritage Convention and in the composition of the World Heritage List have recently been noted. This paper restates the intention of the Convention to establish a select list of cultural and natural heritage of ‘outstanding universal value’. Criteria established to assist in the assessment of this World Heritage value are noted here as being indistinct in their articulation of type and level of value and their wording is assessed as having made it difficult to ensure the recognition of interactions between people and the environment of ‘outstanding universal value’. In a recent initiative cultural landscapes of World Heritage value are now beginning to be inscribed in the World Heritage List and are interpreted as being just one part of the whole range of interactions between nature and culture. At its 20th session in December 1996 the World Heritage Committee will consider the development of an overarching Global Strategy for a representative World Heritage List and a single common set of criteria and conditions of integrity to be applied when assessing and evaluating both cultural and natural heritage as recommended by the ‘Expert Meeting on Evaluation of general principles and criteria for nominations of natural World Heritage sites’. The paper concludes by noting the pragmatic necessity of defining ‘outstanding universal value’ as an extraordinary combination of the unique and the representative.     

Frank Clifford Rose Memorial Lecture: The tale of three trephines: Surgeons and their surgical-instrument makers in Britain,France, and America in the nineteenth century

ABSTRACT

Trephines and trepanning date to ancient times, but a “modern” form of instruments was codified by the seventeenth century. This did not preclude efforts to “improve” the trephine in the late-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Surgeons and instrument makers in Britain (Jardine and Savigny), France (Thomson and Charrière), and America (Galt and Otto & Reynders) endeavored to make the trephine safer and more precise. In exploring their interactions, this presentation shows the evolving role of the instrument makers not only as fabricators of tools, but as creative design collaborators of surgeons and physicians.     

The Exact Men of the North from Tool Makers to Historians

Abstract

This account of northern social scientists, historians, and machine-tool and astronomical instrument makers carries forward the author's construction of an intellectual profile of the North of England in previous articles. Principally by analysing entries in relevant biographical dictionaries, the author has demonstrated that northerners of distinction have been disproportionately numerous among 'men of science' in general and machine-tool engineers and astronomical instrument makers in particular, and — at least since the eighteenth century — among musicians and historians. Astronomical instrument makers and machine-tool engineers were above all exact men; so were the 'new' (scientific) historians like Stubbs and Mandell Creighton who followed the research methods of Leopold von Ranke; while the musicians produced in symphonies and oratorios exactly dovetailed, multi-layered structures of sound. A distinction is drawn between two forms of exactness: one of 'correspondence', the other of 'coherence'. The contrasted social contexts in which they are likely to arise are discussed. Musicians and historians (whose exactness lay in 'coherence') were big-city men; astronomical and mathematical instrument makers were more likely to have come down from the hills. The final result: the North was strongly represented in the front ranks of the nation's historians, mechanical engineers, and musicians; with only weak representation in the foremost ranks of social scientists and imaginative writers.     

Valuing rock art: a view from Northumberland in North East England

Abstract

Since the turn of the millennium three rock art projects focusing primarily on Northumberland in the United Kingdom (Northumberland Rock Art: Web Access to the Beckensall Archive, Rock Art on Mobile Phones and Heritage and Science: working together in the CARE of rock art) have made information and images widely available to the public via the Internet. All three projects were strongly underpinned by the ethos expressed in the Faro Convention and the Ename and Burra Charters that the value of cultural heritage should be enhanced by interpretation. This paper investigates the responses to these digital media initiatives, showing that they have increased the reach of this ancient rock art resource to large numbers of people in United Kingdom and Ireland, and globally. In addition, it reveals that having made these heritage resources available online, they have created a further desire among people to engage with the rock art virtually with the increased possibility of following this up with an in situ visit.