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COURTESY PHOTO
A University of Hawaii at Manoa archaeologist Miriam Stark has been nominated by President Joe Biden to serve U.S. Cultural Property Advisory Committee under the State Department. Stark consults with an expert at an international ceramics workshop in 2017.
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A University of Hawaii at Manoa professor has been nominated by President Joe Biden to serve in one of the three archaeologist positions on the 11-member U.S. Cultural Property Advisory Committee under the State Department.
Miriam Stark will serve on a panel that advises the president on U.S. actions related to the United Nations mandate to prevent the illicit export and transfer of ownership of cultural property.
Among other things, the committee makes recommendations on issues that prevent stolen cultural objects from being trafficked into the U.S. and helps preserve artifacts for scientific, educational and cultural purposes, according to a news release. Common types of cultural property include such things as archaeological artifacts, rare manuscripts and objects used in ceremonies.
Stark has been a UH College of Social Sciences faculty member since 1995 and has conducted work in Cambodia since 1996. She has published more than 100 articles and chapters on Southeast Asian and North American archaeology. Themes of her research include urbanization, ceramic production and distribution, and power relations in pre- modern Cambodia.
The anthropology professor has directed the UH Manoa Center for Southeast Asian Studies since 2018 and is currently a Fulbright senior specialist and honorary research associate with the University of Sydney in Australia.
Stark said she is honored to serve in a role helping the country protect cultural heritage.
“My long-term work in Cambodia and with Cambodian colleagues has taught me the deep importance of protecting cultural heritage, and the U.S. has an important role to play as a world leader in this field,” she said in the news release.
The Cultural Property Advisory Committee reviews requests for import restrictions submitted to the U.S. by foreign governments, considers proposals to extend agreements and emergency actions, and carries out ongoing review of import restrictions.
Recent action taken by the committee includes import restrictions on artifacts and historical material from Belize, Libya and Pakistan.