Trinidad Rico Seeks to Define the Emerging Field of Cultural Heritage Studies
Rico is building the Cultural Heritage and Preservation Studies program at Rutgers to compete worldwide
“As a legacy, I think it honors my field to start something that is not done anywhere else and have it flourish beyond my tenure.’’– Trinidad Rico
Trinidad Rico is interested in how communities make decisions about what to preserve, and not preserve, to create a cultural heritage that defines them to the world.
It is a field she fell into as an anthropologist working in Indonesia after the 2004 tsunami. She was inspired by the decision residents made to preserve boats that landed on tops of neighborhood homes after being tossed about in the historic deluge – instead of focusing their efforts in the preservation of the island’s Dutch colonial history.
“It didn’t need to go through a national conversation,’’ Rico said. “It was their moment. What you saw was people making decisions to erase the landscape of colonialism and create their own new landscape.’’
The decision to prioritize the preservation of the tsunami boats over their Dutch colonial heritage became the basis for her doctoral thesis and put her at odds with conventional ways of thinking in her field.
“Traditional heritage preservation methods dictate you only go and preserve things that were there before, not the new things,’’ Rico said. “If you look at a national registry of heritage sites, a site like this would never be part of it.''
But Rico argues that the tsunami boats are equally a part of Indonesian heritage, even though they don’t yet carry the weight of history.
Rico, who grew up in Argentina, came to Rutgers as an assistant professor in the Department of Art History and director of the Cultural Heritage and Preservation Studies (CHAPS) program, which offers mainly graduate-level classes. While similar programs in the country focus on historic preservation, Rutgers’ program offers a unique focus in cultural heritage studies, making it one of a kind in the United States. Rico is working to develop a curriculum that can compete worldwide.
“This is an emerging field that has to be defined and we have an amazing opportunity to push the discussion forward, innovate and define it here,’’ Rico said.
Rico explains that cultural heritage is contemporary product shaped by history in the context of modern values. She studies how people make decisions about what to keep, what to throw away and what to build from scratch, which becomes heritage.
“There is an element of choice in how you want to present yourself,’’ Rico said. “You can see how people make decisions about how they see themselves and want to be seen by future generations.’’
Rico has revised the core classes in the Cultural Heritage and Preservation Studies program with a more critical approach to the field. She developed a partnership with Rutgers Law School to offer a law degree with a concentration in cultural heritage and preservation studies. She has also introduced an accelerated track that allows students to obtain their combined bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art history with a concentration in cultural heritage studies and preservation in five years. The program also maintains an existing collaboration in historic preservation with the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.
Before coming to Rutgers, Rico had been doing research and teaching for the University College London and Texas A&M in Qatar, where she studied how decisions about preservation are made in Muslim countries, the focus of most of her research. Her work pushes beyond traditional paradigms of conflict studies in the Islamic world and instead focuses on how Muslim countries build their worldview and shape their heritage in daily life.
For example, she points to the decision to preserve the 1940 courtyard house of the first ruler of Qatar – a window into the country’s desire to preserve traditional architecture in the face of a rapidly modernizing skyline – and the decision to build a botanical garden dedicated to plants mentioned in the Koran.
“I look at how a community in the Middle East chooses to present itself with its own voice as opposed to being represented by other media or Western voices,’’ Rico said. “It’s a form of caring for its image in the present and the future.”
At Rutgers, Rico’s focus is on recruiting graduate students who can contribute to building the prestige of the program and raise the profile of Rutgers after they complete their studies. She is also expanding the program’s offerings by developing relationships and interdisciplinary opportunities at Rutgers.
“I need to have a program I can leave behind if I have to,’’ Rico said. “As a legacy, I think it honors my field to start something that is not done anywhere else and have it flourish beyond my tenure.’’
For media inquiries contact Andrea Alexander at andrea.alexander@rutgers.edu or 848-932-0556.