The rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has caused untold damage to the cultural heritage of the region. As a result of the fighting, countless monuments have been destroyed, archaeological sites looted, and priceless manuscript collections lost. This conference seeks to understand the nature and scope of the damage by bringing together a distinguished group of scholars from several fields. The goal is to not merely explain what has been lost, but why ISIS engages in this behavior, what initiatives are underway to document and stem the damage, and how international law might be reconceived to contain future crises like this.

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