UNESCO Chair on Applied Studies of Intangible Cultural Heritage at the University of Tartu

12.12.2018

The application presented by the University of Tartu to establish a UNESCO Chair on Applied Studies of Intangible Cultural Heritage at the University of Tartuwas evaluated favorably by UNESCO in July 2018. Currently there are seven ICH-related UNESCO chairs in the UNESCO network, including the newest chair established in the University of Tartu.  This is a unit of research and international postgraduate teaching on MA and PhD levels, with a goal to build a bridge between the academic world, civil society, local communities, and policy-making. The wider studies in the fields of ethnology and folkloristics, complemented with applied anthropology and cultural management have been reinforced by the recent opening of a new English language programme Folkloristics and Applied Heritage Studies with the mission of training specialists who are well versed in scholarly approaches to intangible cultural heritage, and competent to use this expertise creatively in academia and beyond. The chair holder Professor Kristin Kuutma (PhD) has focused her research and publications widely on intangible heritage matters and politics while also representing Estonia at meetings and activities related to the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.