INSTITUTE: The Tulane-Siena Institute for International Law, Cultural Heritage & the Arts

The Tulane-Siena Institute for International Law, Cultural Heritage & the Arts 

Session Dates:  Sunday, June 2 – Saturday, June 22, 2013 


The Tulane – Siena Institute for International Law, Cultural Heritage and the Arts reinvigorates 20 years of cooperation between the University of Siena Facoltà di Giurisprudenza and Tulane University Law School. The goal of the Institute is to develop the world’s best program for the study of the complex and fascinating relationship between international law, and art and cultural property.  There could be no better place to pursue such studies than in the artistic treasure that is Siena.   

While classes in the conventional sense will be held at the Facolta di Giurisprudenza, Siena and Tuscany will be the true classrooms, providing students with the opportunity to see and experience first-hand the problems and issues that shape this field.  Classroom lectures will be supplemented extensively with field trips, visits to museums, visits to private collections, and guest speakers to take full advantage of the program’s location.

This program provides the only opportunity in the world to study in depth the relationship between international law and art itself, as both physical and intellectual property.  Its merit is that it looks to the most basic premise of all: that there can be no preservation of artistic excellence if there is no preservation of art itself.  While it is all well and good to speak about the production and dissemination of art, there would be no art or artists without their protection. 

While the program is designed primarily for law students, graduate students in other disciplines, such as art, art history, archeology, and anthropology are encouraged to attend.  These students bring another level of depth to the program, as their insights and perspectives come from a completely different thought process than the legal one.  As can be seen from the course descriptions and faculty biographies sections, the program brings together not only international legal scholars, but also scholars with expertise in art and archeology in order to give students in the program a multi-dimensional understanding of the subject matter. This combination of students and faculty members from many different fields removes barriers from the classroom and allows for an interchange of both ideas and opportunities. 

In addition to exploring Siena, students will also have the opportunity to experience the glory that is Tuscany, often described as “the place where Mother Nature outdid herself.”  Should a student desire to see more, the cities of Florence, Pisa, Volterra, Lucca and Arezzo are a short distance away.