There will be a focus on three major themes, with a section for each:
Destruction/iconoclasm and the erasure of culture (due to ideology, neglect, or disregard for the object)
Looting and the appropriation of objects (for purposes of propaganda and economic gain)
Restitution, repatriation, reconstruction, and artistic interventions
Because of the complexity and often overlapping issues of looting and destruction, many examples will fit into more than one theme.
This lesson is intended to be completed in two one-hour-and-fifteen-minute sessions. While the lesson itself contains material for a much deeper discussion of these issues, instructors should feel free to choose the works, time periods, and geographical locations that fit most comfortably into their course.