The program aims to educate students on the issues of the destruction and protection of both tangible and intangible heritage.

In an era of demographic, urban, and climatic pressures, as well as ongoing wars at the gates of Europe, heritage is increasingly subjected to threats of destruction, sometimes accidental, sometimes intentional. The program seeks to explore political issues and the instrumentalization of heritage by state actors. Students are encouraged to develop a critical, constructive, and inclusive response to these challenges.

By gaining expertise in national and international legal frameworks, students will also develop awareness and practical tools (such as mediation and digitalization) that can be shared by institutional decision-makers and citizens alike. The teaching team’s expertise, drawn from diverse backgrounds and countries, with a particular focus on ancient Western Asia—where issues of endangered cultural heritage have been particularly pressing in recent years—will offer students a broad and varied perspective.

Furthermore, archives of UNESCO World Heritage sites, such as Arslantepe, Palmyra, and Petra, will be presented to students, offering relevant case studies where experiments with digital tools have yielded valuable insights.

The Physical mobility section of the course will be held between 12-16 January 2026 in Rome (Italy) after the following schedule:

Monday:

• 10:00 – 13:00 AM: Welcoming session with greetings from Sapienza head of the Department of Scienze dell'Antichità and Professors of the teaching staff. Presentation of the activities carried out by the teaching staff at Sapienza dealing with endangered cultural heritage. And explanation of the students presentations and evaluations at the end of the physical component. 
• 3:00 - 6:00 PM: How to deal with archaeological archives: visit and practical activities on the archives of the archaeological expeditions at Arslantepe (Türkiye), Ebla (Syria) and Tell Zurghul (Iraq). methodologies, aims and issues will be discussed with the students and with the whole teaching staff. Topic such as reopening an excavation after a civil war (Ebla) and dealing with a Unesco site struck by an earthquake (Arslantepe), will be addressed.

Tuesday:

• 10:00 -13:00 AM: How to protect cultural heritage from damage and looting in difficult geographic regions. Discussion on the problem of Illicit traffics of cultural heritage. An intervention of a representative of the Carabinieri per la tutela del patrimonio culturale will be organized.
• 3:00 - 6:00 PM: Exploration of the use of digital humanities at Sapienza laboratory and discussion on the contemporary technologies utilized to deal with cultural heritage. This will be followed by a visit to an archaeological site in Roma where digital reconstruction help the understanding of the site. 

Wednesday:

• 10:00 - 13:00 AM: Visit of Academia Belgica: In the course of this visit the following topics will be discussed: What image does a National academy in Rome promote? What is the role of international academies in promoting the knowledge on cultural heritage preservation?
• 3:00 - 6:00 PM: Visit of the Swiss Institute in Rome discussing the same topics.

Thursday:

• 10:00 - 13:00 AM: Colonization and Instrumentalization of cultural heritage: tour of 1930s Rome 
• 3:00 - 6:00 PM: Presentation of the projects carried out by each student and process of evaluation
• 6:00 - 7:30 PM: Social event: Roman Aperitif at Sapienza

Friday:

• 10:00 - 23:00 AM: What is the role of private collections in the preservation of cultural heritage? Visit at Museo Baracco with the Egyptian and Oriental collections.
• 3:00 - 5:00 PM: Presentation of the project carried out by each student and process of evaluation
• 5:00 - 6:00 PM: Final greetings

The virtual part will take place between 26 September - 12 December 2025, as following:

• 26 September, 4:00 - 6:00 PM CET - General Introduction: presentation of the teaching staff, explanation of the course contents 
• 3 October, 4:00 - 6:00 PM CET - Cultural Heritage and Identity (Laurent Tholbecq) 
• 10 October, 4:00 - 6:00 PM CET - International and national Legal framework (Patrick Michel)
• 17 October, 4:00 - 6:00 PM CET: Cultural Heritage at risk (Lucia Mori, Lorenzo Verderame, Davide Nadali, Francesca Ballossi Restelli, Laurent Tholbecq)
• 24 October, 4:00 - 6:00 PM CET: Cultural Heritage and Digital Humanitites. Practical Approaches (Patrick Michel, Lorenzo Verderame) 
• 31 October, 4:00 - 6:00 PM CET: Cultural Heritage and Digital Humanitites: Critical Issues (Lorenzo Verderame, Laurent Tholbecq) 
• 7 November, 4:00 - 6:00 PM CET: Use and Abuse of Cultural Heritage (Lucia Mori, Davide Nadali, Fernando Escribano Martin) 
• 14 November, 4:00 - 6:00 PM CET: Illicit Trafficking and Economic Management of Cultural Goods (Lorenzo Verderame, Davide Nadali) 
• 21 November, 4:00 - 6:00 PM CET: Case studies: Archaeology in colonial context: cases studies from central Africa and Israeli and occupied territories (Nicolas Nikis – Laurent Tholbecq) 
• 28 November, 4:00 - 6:00 PM CET: Case studies: Arcaheology in Türkiye (Unesco site Arslantepe), Syria (Ebla) and Iraq (tell Zhurgul) (Francesca Balossi Restelli – Davide Nadali) 
• 5 December, 4:00 - 6:00 PM CET: Case studies: The cultural old heritage protection in the Madrid region (Fernando Escribano Martin)
• 12 December, 4:00 - 6:00 PM CET: Debating Present and Future Issues on endangered cultural heritage: open discussion with teaching staff and students on the questions raised in the course of the virtual component.