The Looting Lab

“Loot,” from the Hindustani lūṭ, means theft and banditry and also dispossession, destruction, and plunder. The idea of looting offers a novel approach to timely questions. What are the origins of collections in institutions such as the Royal Ontario Museum, the British Library, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art? How have occupation, colonization, and illicit trade shaped the journeys of these items? What do we learn when we study these collections as “loot,” and how might this framework change the way that communities of origin, scholars, curators, and members of the public engage with cultural heritage? The Looting Lab is an interdisciplinary humanities research community based out of the University of Toronto Mississauga that will develop an innovative understanding of looted cultural heritage and its social, economic, and political underpinnings. Our members are researchers working across different regions, materials, and time periods, using a range of methodologies, who are responding to the urgent need to re-evaluate cultural dispossession, loss, and restitution. To request to join the group, email the group lead linked in the list.

Leads

Faculty, University of Toronto

  • Jennifer Adese, Professor, Sociology, UTM
  • Zaheer Baber, Professor, Sociology, UTM
  • Firat Bozcali, Assistant Professor, Anthropology, UTM
  • Beatrice Jauregui, Associate Professor, Centre for Criminology, FAS
  • Cara Krmpotich, Associate Professor, iSchool
  • Heather MacNeil, Professor, iSchool
  • Joanna Papayiannis, Assistant Professor, Material Culture, Victoria College/FAS
  • Kristin Plys, Associate Professor, Sociology and History, UTM
  • Mary-Ann Pouls Wegner, Associate Professor, Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, FAS
  • Elizabeth Wijaya, Assistant Professor, Visual Studies and East Asian Studies, UTM

Graduate Students, University of Toronto

  • Harmata Aboubakar, PhD Student, Sociology, FAS
  • Arka Chakraborty, PhD Candidate, English, UTM
  • Kara Ma, PhD Candidate, East Asian Studies, ROM/FAS
  • Bryon Maxey, PhD Candidate, Religion, FAS
  • Azure Pham, MMI/MMSt Student, iSchool
  • Raquel Robbins, PhD Candidate, Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, FAS
  • Rita Sawaya, PhD Candidate, Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, FAS
  • Jun Wong, PhD Candidate, Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, FAS

Undergraduate Students, University of Toronto

  • Layan Shaltaf, Sociology/Crime, Law, and Society, UTM
  • Amirah Alli-Adesanya, Sociology/Crime, Law, and Society, UTM
  • Sade Benoit, Sociology/Crime, Law, and Society, UTM
  • Vareesha Zuberi, Sociology/Crime, Law and Society, UTM

Researchers and Librarians, University of Toronto

  • Hagos Abrha Abay, Research Associate, History, UTSC
  • Suzanne Conklin Akbari, Professor,  IAS Princeton/Affiliate Faculty, Medieval Studies, FAS
  • Kalzang Dorjee Bhutia, Research Associate, Hidden Stories Project, UTM/UTL
  • David Fernandez, Head, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, UTL
  • Muhammad Hameed, Postdoctoral Fellow, English and Drama, UTM | Assistant Professor, Department of Archaeology, University of the Punjab
  • Grant Hurley, Canadiana Librarian, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, UTL
  • Jessica Lockhart, Head of Research, Old Books New Science Lab, UTM
  • Asad Raza, Vice-Presidential Special Advisor, Public Art, UTM
  • Elisa Tersigni, Senior Research Associate, Collaborative Digital Research Space, UTM

External Researchers

  • Nur Sobers-Khan, Research Fellow, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter
  • Peter Tarras, Near and Middle East Institute, Ludwig-Maximilians University at Munich
  • Panggah Ardyansyah, PhD Candidate, SOAS University of London