Heritage Expertise: Paradigm or Platitude?

The 24th Annual Cambridge Heritage Research Centre Symposium explored the idea of heritage expertise and how our understanding of heritage expertise shapes the associated skills and roles in heritage theory and practice, and informs our heritage methodologies. Hosting speakers from cross-disciplinary backgrounds, the 24th CHRC Annual Symposium shed light on the idea of heritage expertise by focusing on the following questions:

• How do we define heritage expertise?

 • What kinds of skills are necessary for heritage expertise? • How can ethical values shape our understanding of heritage expertise? 

• How does decolonisation challenge Western concepts of heritage expertise? • What are the epistemological and ontological implications of challenging established concepts of heritage expertise? 

• What opportunities can digitisation and globalisation afford about heritage expertise?

 • Can the role of communities and/or grassroot movements in heritage interpretation expand the boundaries of heritage expertise? 

• Do current heritage methodologies respond to the demands of inclusive participation in heritage expertise?