26th Annual Cambridge Heritage Symposium

The Role of Heritage in Shaping Ontological Security in the Contemporary World

8-9 May 2025, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research

The Symposium is free to attend, but booking is essential. 

SOLD OUT

In her 2007 seminal paper, Jane Grenville argued about the significance of built environment for ontological security and invited us to reflect on how heritage contributes to our everyday living. Recent economic, environmental and political crises, urban gentrification, wars, and the shifting dynamics of the global landscape, along with the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, prompt us to reconsider the role that heritage plays in fostering ontological security, or the security of being. 

Ontological security provides individuals, communities and societies with modes of survival during periods of political, social, economic, and cultural upheaval. Heritage offers reassurance of belonging, identity, and a shared past, which are essential for ensuring a hopeful future. 

We invited contributions for this two-day conference focused on the topic of heritage and ontological security and how it relates to ideas of reconciliation and commemoration. Our emphasis will be on resilience, a sense of belonging to a place and/or community, and well-being as integral components of emotional and physical safety. The topics we invite the participants to focus on are, identity, belongings, shared past reconciliation and commemoration.  

This year the CHRC is joining forces with the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures. The symposium (CHS26) will be supported by the Sasakawa Foundation, The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, The Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures and the A.G. Leventis Foundation.