Thursday, April 28

9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

This symposium will bring together leading scholars and advocates to discuss the history of cultural property, their rightful owners and whether the property should be returned to the original creating country. Professor David Rudenstine will present his decades-long historical research challenging the British Museum’s claim in the cultural property dispute between Greece and Great Britain over the Parthenon Sculptures taken to London in the early 1800s by the British ambassador, Lord Elgin. Dean Melanie Leslie will make opening remarks.

Panel 1: 9:30 a.m. – History Surrounding the Removal of the Sculptures and the U.K. Purchase of Elgin’s Collection

Panelists: Elena Korka, Honorary Director General, Antiquities and Cultural Heritage of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports; David Rudenstine, Professor, Cardozo School of Law; Giovanna Bellesia, Department Chair of Italian and German Studies, Smith College

 

Panel 2: 11:00 a.m – Should the British Museum Return the Collection to Athens?

Panelists: Irini Stamatoudi, Professor, University of Nicosia; Elizabeth Marlowe, Professor, Colgate University; Kris Tytgat, President, International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures

 

Luncheon Address: 12:30 p.m.
Panelists: Dimitrios Pandermalis, President, Acropolis Museum and Lina Mendoni, Minister of Culture and Sports, Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis

Panel 3: 1:30 p.m – The Universal Museum Myth

Moderator: Irini Stamatoudi, Professor, University of Nicosia
Panelists: Patty Gerstenblith, Professor, DePaul College of Law; Elena Korka, Honorary Director General, Antiquities and Cultural Heritage of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports; Joe Baker, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Lenape Center

Panel 4: 3:15 p.m. – Cultural Property & International Human Rights Trends

Moderator: Sandy Cobden ’90, Deputy General Counsel, Pactiv Evergreen Inc.
Panelists: Lawrence Kaye, Partner, Herrick, Feinstein LLP; Leila Amineddoleh, Founder, Amineddoleh & Associates LLC; Kristen Carpenter, Professor of Law, University of Colorado