ILLINOIS.EDU
University of Illinois

Contact details

D. Fairchild Ruggles

Co-Director

Dept. of Landscape Architecture

101 Temple Hoyne Buell Hall, MC-620
Champaign, IL 61820

Phone: (217) 333-0176

Fax: (217) 333-0176

Email: dfr1@illinois.edu

Helaine Silverman

Co-Director

Dept. of Anthropology

109 Davenport Hall, MC-148
Urbana, IL 61801

Phone: (217) 333-3616

Fax: (217) 244-3490

Email: helaine@illinois.edu

© 2003 The Board of Trustees at the University of Illinois

CHAMP's Signature Characteristics

CHAMP is international and comparative in scope and innovative in linking landscape and museum studies from a critical globalization perspective. CHAMP has an explicit interdisciplinary and global focus.

CHAMP'S interrogation of cultural heritage focuses on the entire landscape and its inhabitants rather than the endangered building, monument or landmark per se. We argue that landscape is the appropriate scale and necessary focus for heritage inquiry because this is where contestations of identity, ownership, and ideology are inscribed and mediation takes place.

CHAMP'S vision of museums conceptualizes them broadly as places for the display and interpretation of historic events, art, architecture, world culture, natural history, science and technology, music and language--in short, the gamut of human creativity. We embrace the concept of "museums beyond walls" so as to encompass open-air museums, archaeological site museums, exhibitions, world's fairs, theme parks, and a range of performances.

CHAMP's integrative approach links critical inquiry to opportunities for real problem-solving in the field (whether sites or museums). Our premise is that there must be a shared discourse between theorists and state-of-the-art heritage and museum practitioners. CHAMP reflects both of these perspectives.

CHAMP's mission is to promote sustainable policies that are sensitive to competing political, economic, and religious claims to heritage sites and museum representations. CHAMP faculty are already training a new generation of heritage mediators and managers capable of articulating to their own local and national governments the value of heritage preservation and representation. We work with governmental agencies at various levels as well as NGOs to preserve the historic environment and to develop sustainable sites for tourism. We are concerned with mediation among the multiple constituencies with heritage claims to such sites and help to bring benefits of tourism development to the people living around historic sites and museums.

CHAMP has signature projects around the world (India: Champaner; Peru: Cuzco; Laos: Luang Prabang: Thailand: Doi Sutep; U.S.: New Philadelphia) and is developing new programs.