Program Head/Associate Professor Heritage and Museum Studies. Founding director of
Dhakira–Center for Heritage Studies at NYUAD, and CIE–Centre for International
Heritage Activities (UNESCO accredited NGO)
Robert Parthesius is Maritime Historical-Archaeologist, Heritage Scholar, and Museum
Curator. During his ten years at NYUAD, he has fostered the growth of the Heritage and
Museum Studies Program and the Dhakira Center’s innovative HeritageLab research
concept. This interactive platform offers opportunities for researchers, artists, students,
and communities to participate in multidisciplinary projects that rethink the heritage
concept and its uses.
Prior to his time at NYUAD, Parthesius developed a track record of research projects
and museum exhibitions in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia with a focus on shared
heritage and transnational cultural exchange. He was involved with research and the
development collaboration programs in the field of shared cultural heritage and culture,
development and sustainability. These programs of rehabilitation of the cultural sector in
Afghanistan and the shared heritage collaboration programs in Sub-Saharan Africa and
the Indian Ocean allowed him to build extensive networks of scholars, practitioners, and
civil society groups. In these programs he developed a specific vision on heritage
studies and practices of inclusive and sustainable models of regional relevance within a
global context. These experience and vision come together in his pioneering role in
developing the field of heritage and museum studies at New York University, founding
the Dhakira–Center for Heritage Studies (2016) and the CIE–Centre for International
Heritage Activities (2006).
Parthesius has published widely, including scholarly books and academic papers,
exhibition catalogues and publications for a general audience. He organized a series of
international conferences, and he is an accredited UNESCO expert and serves at
various expert committees of ICOMOS and ICOM.