The recent 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor revived interest in World War II, and in particular, the Pacific Theater of Operations. The Pacific Theater — with its Kamikaze suicide bombings, guerrilla tactics, and nuclear weapons — was a take-no-prisoners fight to the death through island jungles exotic to both the Americans and Japanese. Because the war was fought between civilizations, cultural heritage was a major target, and thus a major casualty.
This panel will discuss the Empire of Japan’s pillaging and destruction of Asian treasures from Mongolia to Singapore. They will shed light on the United States’ plan to first destroy — and ultimately spare — historic Kyoto; South Korea's efforts to recover their looted artworks; the fight to prevent the desecration of major battlefields; and the environmental time bomb of sunken battleships, and gravesites themselves, in pristine South Pacific waters.
Panelists:
- William Cook, J.D., Associate General Counsel, National Trust for Historic Preservation
- Tess Davis, J.D., Archeologist, Lawyer and Affiliate Researcher, University of Glasgow, Scotland
- Ricardo J. Elia, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Archeology, Boston University
- Laura Gongaware, J.D., Bland & Partners, PLLC
- Larry Murphy, former Lead Marine Archaeologist for the National Park Service; expert witness in underwater cultural heritage cases.
- John Stubbs, Director of Preservation Studies, Tulane University School of Architecture
- Mark J. Spalding, President, The Ocean Foundation
- Ole Varmer, Attorney-Advisor, International Section, Office of the General Counsel, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Elizabeth Varner, J.D., Executive Director of the National Art Museum of Sport
This event is cosponsored by ASIL and the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.