Arts and Education: Cultural Heritage

It has been argued in the historical martial arts community that the British game of Singlestick was so popular around the turn of the 20th century that President Roosevelt himself was a loyal adherent to the practice, and that it was even presented at the St. Louis Olympic Games in 1904. This small essay explores some primary sources to examine these claims, and establishes that a common misnomer of the time is most probably behind the origins of these two myths.

This thesis explores the the concept of combat sports and games as examples of cultural heritage. More precisely it examines the different processes in which a combat practice becomes a symbol of cultural heritage, or in the opposite scenario, is discarded.

The history of kenjutsu and kendo has been fairly well documented in Japan, but outside of it there has been very little research. Many people are aware of the relatively recent history of kendo in their city or state, but anything before World War 2 is very murky or unknown. Through this article I will present some of my research done in American newspapers of the turn of the 20th century, when the first traces of kendo and kenjutsu are finally encountered in the United-States. It is a story that goes farther than questions of sports and martial arts, but also unearths some interesting aspects of Japanese immigration and multicultural relations in America.

L’escrime est un art martial qui a connu de nombreux bouleversements en France. Son association avec la culture du duel lui a toujours valu une réputation pour le moins mitigée, poussant les autorités à parfois la réprimer. Tour à tour encensés ou méprisés pendant le Moyen âge, les maîtres en faist d’armes réussissent néanmoins à hisser l’école française au sommet de l’escrime européenne à la fin du XVIIe siècle, leur style et leur savoir-faire s’exportent partout sur le continent et même au-delà. Le Premier et même le Second Empire français ont joué une part importante dans l’établissement de l’école française, de l’Amérique au Japon.

Aujourd’hui dans sa forme olympique, voire électrique, l’escrime a beaucoup changé, mais nombre de ses aspects ne seraient pas étrangers aux maîtres d’armes ayant servi dans la Grande Armée. Cet article se propose d’examiner la pratique de l’escrime dans l’armée de Napoléon, de son influence sur la pratique du duel chez les militaires, comment la Grande Armée a contribué à étendre la portée de l’escrime française bien en dehors de l’Hexagone, et comment ce processus s’est poursuivi sous le Second Empire.

Analysis of viral genome sequences from two calves persistently infected with bovine viral diarrhea virus revealed a quasispecies distribution. The sequences encoding the glycoprotein E2 were variable, translating to a number of changes in predicted amino acid sequences. The NS3 region was found to be highly conserved in both animals. The number of E2 clones showing variant amino acids increased with the age of the animal and comparison of the consensus sequences at the different time points confirmed differences in the predicted E2 sequences over time. The immune tolerance that allows the lifelong persistence of this viral infection is highly specific. It is likely that some of the variant viruses generated within these animals will differ antigenically from the persisting virus and be recognized by the immune system. Evidence of an immune response to persisting virus infection was gathered from a larger sample of cattle. Serum neutralizing antibodies were found in 4 of 21 persistently infected animals. Accumulations of viral RNA in the lymph nodes of all animals examined, particularly in the germinal center light zone, may represent antigenic variants held in the form of immune complexes on the processes of follicular dendritic cells.

The immune response induced by a DNA construct expressing the E2 envelope glycoprotein of bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) was studied in cattle. Four groups of five calves, were immunised by intradermal injection with a total of 1 mg of plasmid DNA on each of two occasions, with a 3-week dose interval. Group 1 received non-coding plasmid DNA only (control), group 2 received the E2 coding plasmid (0.5 mg) plus non-coding plasmid DNA (0.5 mg) and groups 3 and 4 received the E2 coding plasmid plus plasmid encoding either bovine interleukin 2 (IL-2) or granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) respectively. Two weeks after the final immunisation, all calves were challenged by intranasal inoculation with 5×10 6 TCID 50 of homologous virus. On the day of challenge, neutralising antibodies were detectable in 13 of 15 vaccinated calves (one animal in each of groups 3 and 4 remained seronegative at this point). Thereafter, a strong anamnestic serological response was evident in all vaccinated animals. Furthermore, T-cell proliferation following in vitro re-stimulation with BVDV antigen was significantly elevated in the cytokine adjuvanted groups. This enhancement of BVDV specific immune responses in vaccinated animals was reflected in the clinical responses observed post-challenge. In particular, reduced febrile responses provided evidence of a disease sparing effect of vaccination. Significantly, whilst a transient viraemia was detected in all control animals following challenge, no virus was isolated from the leucocytes from 8 out of the 15 vaccinated animals. In groups 2 and 4, three animals remained virus free, although virus was isolated from two animals in each group at a single time point, while in group 3, three out of five animals had detectable viraemia.

The effect of cytokine adjuvancy on a bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) DNA vaccine expressing the major glycoprotein E2 was investigated in mice. Murine interleukin-2 (IL-2) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) were chosen for their potential ability to enhance the humoral and cellular immune responses involved in protection against BVDV. Both cytokines, co-administered as separate plasmid constructs, had a marked effect on ELISA and neutralising antibody titres, improving the spectrum of neutralisation induced by the E2 DNA vaccine, as demonstrated in heterologous neutralisation assays. The predominance of IgG2a isotypes, in sera from all DNA injected groups, indicated a Th1 biased immune response. Antigen specific proliferation of murine splenocytes from immunised mice was enhanced by cytokine co-administration, with the highest stimulation indexes observed in the group co-injected with the GM-CSF construct. These results obtained in the mouse (Balb/c; H2-k d ) animal model demonstrate the value of the two cytokines as adjuvants for the E2 DNA vaccine. The need for an adjuvant in this system was emphasised by the MHC restriction observed when C57BL/6 mice (H2-k b ) were immunised with the E2 DNA construct. Antibody levels were dramatically lower in this mouse strain.

Analysis of viral genome sequences from two calves persistently infected with bovine viral diarrhea virus revealed a quasispecies distribution. The sequences encoding the glycoprotein E2 were variable, translating to a number of changes in predicted amino acid sequences. The NS3 region was found to be highly conserved in both animals. The number of E2 clones showing variant amino acids increased with the age of the animal and comparison of the consensus sequences at the different time points confirmed differences in the predicted E2 sequences over time. The immune tolerance that allows the lifelong persistence of this viral infection is highly specific. It is likely that some of the variant viruses generated within these animals will differ antigenically from the persisting virus and be recognized by the immune system. Evidence of an immune response to persisting virus infection was gathered from a larger sample of cattle. Serum neutralizing antibodies were found in 4 of 21 persistently infected animals. Accumulations of viral RNA in the lymph nodes of all animals examined, particularly in the germinal center light zone, may represent antigenic variants held in the form of immune complexes on the processes of follicular dendritic cells.

The immune response induced by a DNA construct expressing the E2 envelope glycoprotein of bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) was studied in cattle. Four groups of five calves, were immunised by intradermal injection with a total of 1 mg of plasmid DNA on each of two occasions, with a 3-week dose interval. Group 1 received non-coding plasmid DNA only (control), group 2 received the E2 coding plasmid (0.5 mg) plus non-coding plasmid DNA (0.5 mg) and groups 3 and 4 received the E2 coding plasmid plus plasmid encoding either bovine interleukin 2 (IL-2) or granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) respectively. Two weeks after the final immunisation, all calves were challenged by intranasal inoculation with 5×10 6 TCID 50 of homologous virus. On the day of challenge, neutralising antibodies were detectable in 13 of 15 vaccinated calves (one animal in each of groups 3 and 4 remained seronegative at this point). Thereafter, a strong anamnestic serological response was evident in all vaccinated animals. Furthermore, T-cell proliferation following in vitro re-stimulation with BVDV antigen was significantly elevated in the cytokine adjuvanted groups. This enhancement of BVDV specific immune responses in vaccinated animals was reflected in the clinical responses observed post-challenge. In particular, reduced febrile responses provided evidence of a disease sparing effect of vaccination. Significantly, whilst a transient viraemia was detected in all control animals following challenge, no virus was isolated from the leucocytes from 8 out of the 15 vaccinated animals. In groups 2 and 4, three animals remained virus free, although virus was isolated from two animals in each group at a single time point, while in group 3, three out of five animals had detectable viraemia.

The effect of cytokine adjuvancy on a bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) DNA vaccine expressing the major glycoprotein E2 was investigated in mice. Murine interleukin-2 (IL-2) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) were chosen for their potential ability to enhance the humoral and cellular immune responses involved in protection against BVDV. Both cytokines, co-administered as separate plasmid constructs, had a marked effect on ELISA and neutralising antibody titres, improving the spectrum of neutralisation induced by the E2 DNA vaccine, as demonstrated in heterologous neutralisation assays. The predominance of IgG2a isotypes, in sera from all DNA injected groups, indicated a Th1 biased immune response. Antigen specific proliferation of murine splenocytes from immunised mice was enhanced by cytokine co-administration, with the highest stimulation indexes observed in the group co-injected with the GM-CSF construct. These results obtained in the mouse (Balb/c; H2-k d ) animal model demonstrate the value of the two cytokines as adjuvants for the E2 DNA vaccine. The need for an adjuvant in this system was emphasised by the MHC restriction observed when C57BL/6 mice (H2-k b ) were immunised with the E2 DNA construct. Antibody levels were dramatically lower in this mouse strain.

This paper considers how an important instrument of global heritage governance, the World Heritage Convention, became just that—globalised and governing—through an analysis of a material artefact: the UNESCO World Heritage map. The map names only those States Parties that have signed the Convention. Thus, like other ordering technologies such as lists and registers, the map introduces yet another scheme of classification through which global heritage governance is effected. With only four states missing, it now also uncannily resembles an ordinary map of the world. UNESCO represents this near-universal membership of the Convention as a triumph. Scrutiny of the map's absences, however, evokes more ambivalent precedents: of states' maps that deliberately omit other states they do not recognise, or the spaces in colonial cartography left provisionally blank for territory yet to be acquired. By foregrounding a topographic rather than political representation of the world, the map suggests the possibility of alternative configurations of global heritage, yet ultimately reproduces the notion of coherent nation-states bounded by borders. The World Heritage map thus allows us to explore the tension between the practical logic that drives agents of heritage globalisation, and the geopolitical and historical specificities of states and regions.

This special issue of Historic Environment emerged from a symposium by and for emerging heritage  researchers  at  the  Alfred  Deakin  Institute  for  Citizenship  and  Globalisation, Deakin University, Melbourne, in November 2016. The objective of the symposium was to  explore  the  intersections  between  heritage,  sustainability  and  social  justice.  In  the realm of heritage conservation, conflict and its aftermath, the rapidly growing tourism industry,  the  need  to  accommodate  human  and  cultural  rights,  and  changing  global institutional practices and standards are among factors that result in complex situations that challenge disciplinary and professional boundaries. The papers in this issue illustrate this  complexity  and  explore  ways  in  which  the  links  between  heritage,  social  justice and  sustainability  can  present  productive  synergies.  They  cover  cases  in  Iraq,  Iran  and Myanmar as  well  as  aspects of  the  World Heritage  programme  of  the  United  Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the broader international legal framework.

ncreasing politicisation of World Heritage processes has been linked to growing interest by emergent states in the Convention processes as a tool for soft power, especially in Asia. It has also been linked to an undermined role for expert advice in the Convention processes. To date, it appears the focus of emerging states' interest in the Convention has been the prestige and economic reward of having their own properties inscribed, rather than cultural diplomacy through bilateral support for other states' World Heritage aspirations. By contrast, established World Heritage states in the region such as Japan, Korea and, perhaps until recently, Australia have increasingly seen the World Heritage Convention through a lens of soft power achieved through support to developing countries in the region – a meeting of cultural diplomacy and overseas development assistance. This support has included direct bilateral assistance and funding through multilateral heritage bodies such as UNESCO, and has included a focus on ‘upstream processes’, the preparation of management and conservation regimes as a precursor to nomination and inscription. This paper will focus on the link between the processes at the World Heritage Convention described as a ‘rush to inscribe’ (Meskell 2011) with the quieter background activity which could be described as the ‘rush to assist’, and in particular track the role that expert advice has played in both processes and the implications for conservation offered by each approach.

An important emerging question in World Heritage scholarship is how to locate and give voice to the local expert. This paper explores how this question is linked to the issue of what counts as expertise at the annual transnational World Heritage Committee meeting. It is not only that certain specific people are licensed to perform the role of heritage expert with ‘official’ status. Nor is it just that heritage expertise may be increasingly marginalized as nation states exert political will (Meskell 2014). This paper will argue that heritage expertise itself has doubtful status as the dominant form of expertise in this particular forum. As the World Heritage Convention reaches middle age, its annual showpiece meeting has developed a distinctive culture, and an expertise privileging international diplomatic and rhetorical skills adapted to both performance and back room negotiation. This paper will employ the concept of an ‘aesthetics of expertise’ used by Hodžić to analyse knowledge at the cultural boundaries of science and politics in global public health {Hodžić 2013} as a highly relevant way to approach knowledge practices in the World Heritage system. As places entering the World Heritage Committee process are transformed into texts and simulation, so too is their local expertise challenged to translate into forms of expertise that count at the Committee meeting. While this could be seen to challenge the primacy of place as the subject of the Convention, it could open new opportunities to recognise the World Heritage Committee as a locale itself with a local expertise, and from this recognition to better articulate claims of expertise, including those local to World Heritage properties, into this locale.

This paper considers an aspect of how an important instrument of global heritage governance, the World Heritage Convention, became just that—globalised and governing—through a close analysis of a material artefact: the UNESCO World Heritage map. At first glance, it is easy to overlook the fact that the map only names those states that have signed the Convention: with only four states missing, the map now uncannily resembles an ordinary map of the world. UNESCO represents this near-universal membership of the Convention as a triumph. Scrutiny of the map’s absences, however, evokes more ambivalent precedents: of states’ maps that deliberately omit other states they do not recognise, or the spaces in colonial cartography left provisionally blank for territory yet to be acquired. This paper uses the World Heritage map as a device to explore the dissonance between the practical logic that drives agents of heritage globalisation, and the geopolitical and historical specificities of states and regions. Through its omission of non-member states’ names, the map makes indistinct borders won through the bloodiest national liberation struggles of the late 20th century, and visually annexes tiny Pacific islands to neighbouring states’ atolls. Yet dissonances are also found where states have joined the Convention—and literally put themselves on the map—in the midst of national calamity. Here, like so many other ordering processes such as lists, boundaries and names, I suggest the map introduces yet another scheme of classification through which global heritage governance is effected.

At a time of pressing and unprecedented challenges to global heritage conservation and cultural and environmental governance more broadly, scepticism about claims to expertise have emanated from both vested economic and political interests and independent voices alike. Without a clear professional status, the weight given to technical advice in cultural heritage conservation is fraught and increasingly open to contest. This is particularly the case with the growing presence of emerging economic and political powers of the global South, particularly in Asia, which are openly challenging views perceived as smuggling an unstated Eurocentric intellectual agenda. Yet little clear basis has emerged to assist in distinguishing between a constructive, corrective critique of expertise, and attempts at its cynical, opportunistic dismantling for instrumental political, diplomatic and economic gain. A possible avenue forward is for closer ethnographic study of how both heritage conservation experts and political and diplomatic decision‐makers practise their roles to add empirical flesh to the polite normative platitudes of multilateral heritage practice.

Based on in‐depth interviews with experts and diplomatic decision‐makers working in the World Heritage system, this paper challenges the dominant view that technical expertise has been rendered subservient to politicised decision‐making at the annual World Heritage Committee meetings. Using Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic capital and drawing on emerging case studies from Asia and the Pacific, this paper traces the construction and circulation of expert knowledge in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage system, finding expertise and technical experts present in unexpected places, both in the negotiated deal making and diplomatic dimensions of World Heritage.