We will explore the destruction of cultural property through history using lecture and discussion, covering looting and iconoclasm from ancient times to the present.

Topics in this study group for those 50 and over include: Nazi art looting; the work of the Monuments Men and recent restitution efforts; the looting and destruction of monuments by ISIS and others; and the effectiveness of international efforts to prevent the destruction of cultural heritage.

Optional readings will be provided by instructor Sarah Swanz, a former lawyer and current graduate student at the UM School of Information and 2016 participant in the Association for Research Into Crimes Against Art summer program in Italy.

This study group will meet for 90 minutes on Wednesdays from January 25 through February 15.