While the CHAPS program enjoys a number of inter-disciplinary partnerships across various departments at Rutgers University, we are also grateful for the intellectual and financial contributions that external partners continue to make towards the growth of the program. In addition, the following institutions have hosted CHAPS undergraduate and graduate students.
Partnership with UNESCO:
CHAPS enjoyed a five year Memorandum of Understanding (which recently ended) with UNESCO, a cooperation with the goal of reinforcing links between our institutions through joint research and academic staff and graduate student development. As part of the Project Forum UNESCO, this collaboration has included research projects and graduate student opportunities, as well as the patronage of UNESCO in our 2012 International Conference “Cultural Landscapes: Preservation Challenges in the 21st Century.”
Partnership with the Rutgers Global:
CHAPS has built a collaborative partnership with the Rutgers Global, through our joint interest in heritage management and preservation at the international level. Moreover, GAIA has supported fieldwork opportunities for CHAPS research students, in particular, research towards the nomination of the Banda Islands in Indonesia (also known as Spice Islands) as a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Interdisciplinary Working Group on Islamic Heritage (2018-2019) Sponsored by Rutgers Global
In 2018 the Director of CHAPS, Trinidad Rico, received a Rutgers Global Grant Award to set up an Interdisciplinary Working Group on Islamic Heritage, in collaboration with Dr Corisande Fenwick (Institute of Archaeology at University College London) and Dr Rachel Ama Asaa Engmann (African Studies at Hampshire College). This collaboration considers that the pedagogical spaces for teaching issues related to the heritage, preservation and material culture concerns across the Muslim world are challenged by the limited range of resources that are available – limited in geographic scope and representation but also in terms of diversity of scholars and scholarship – with an overemphasis on the theme of conflict. Seeking to confront, refine and revise simplistic understandings of Islamic heritage and Muslim attitudes to their past and the Islamophobia that they enable, this Interdisciplinary Working Group embark on a study of academic resources and public and private initiatives in order to propose new venues, conversations, and outputs through dedicated workshops at London (2018) and Rutgers (2019), with the aim of expanding this network in line with other national and international circles.
Scott Curzi Memorial Fellowship (Phillipsburg Area Historical Society):
The Phillipsburg Area Historical Society has partnered with the CHAPS program in order to provide a paid internship to students in the graduate program. A selected student will have the opportunity to work on the Roseberry House Project. Past projects have included the analysis of unique wall stencils in the Roseberry House which culminated in the development of a scholarly paper and a forthcoming public lecture to be held in the Phillipsburg area.
For more on the Scott Curzi Memorial Internship, see "Phillipsburg Area Historical Society and Rutgers University Announce Scott Curzi Memorial Internship" on NJ.com, and "Restoring a Forgotten Landmark" on the Rutgers website.
Students interested in this internship should contact the CHAPS program directly.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all the above partnerships that have supported CHAPS students and hosted them as interns.
