LAURIE RUSH, Director of Training
Dr. Laurie Rush is the key pioneer and advocate for Cultural Property Protection or “CPP” in military affairs, and her work has been transformative for the field.
Dr. Rush is an Anthropologist and Archaeologist. She holds a BA from Indiana University Bloomington, an MA and PhD from Northwestern University, and is a Fellow of the National Science Foundation and of the American Academy in Rome. Dr. Rush’s research specialty is Native Americans of northeastern North America, and she serves as Native American Affairs Liaison for the 10th Mountain Division and Fort Drum.
She has served as a US Army civilian for sixteen years, managing Cultural Resources at Fort Drum, NY.
Dr. Rush co-directed the NATO Science for Peace and Security project on cultural property protection for NATO (NATO SPS CPP).
Dr. Rush was military liaison for return of the Mesopotamian City of Ur to the Iraqi People in 2009, represented US Central Command at Environmental Shuras in Kabul in 2010, and analysed cultural property protection lessons learned from the Iraq and Afghan conflicts for the US Central Command Environmental Program. On behalf of CENTCOM, she participated in key leader engagements across the Middle East including Jordanian partnership programs, Eagle Resolve and Bright Star exercises.
As editor of “Archaeology, Cultural Property, and the Military,” co-author of “The Carabinieri TPC; Saving the World’s Heritage,” and author of numerous articles and book chapters, Dr. Rush is internationally recognised as a specialist concerning the importance of military education and operations planning for cultural property protection in crisis areas. Recently, she has also been recognised by the media as a modern “Monuments Woman,” is featured in the new book, “Lives in Ruins” and is a Board Member of the US Committee of the Blue Shield.
Select publications
The Importance of Training Cultural Property Protection-An Example from the U.S. Army, pp. 80-92.
Rush, Laurie 2015 ”Military Protection of Cultural Property,” In: Countering Illicit Traffic in Cultural Goods: The Global Challenge of Protecting the World’s Heritage, Paris: ICOM.
Rush, Laurie W. 2015 “Off Course? A Career in Archaeology Outside of the Academy,” Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies; Forum: Investing in the Future. State College, PA: Penn State University Press.
Rush, Laurie W. 2015 “Partnership vs Guns; Military Advocacy of Peaceful Approaches for Cultural Property Protection.” In: Gonzales, Alfredo, ed. Archaeology, ethics and conflict. The World Archaeology Congress Ethics Series. NYC: Springer.
Rush, Laurie W. 2013 “Protecting Cultural Property in Crisis Areas.” Predella, Art Journal of Pisa. To link to this article: http://www.predella.it/index.php/component/content/article.html?id=47:32...
Rush, Laurie W. 2012 “Cultural Property Protection: The Critical Role of Partnership Between Academia and the Military,” In: Serenella Ensoli, ed., For the Preservation of the Cultural Heritage in Libya; a dialogue among institutions, Proceedings of Conference 1-2 July 2011, monumental complex of Belvedere, San Leucio, Caserta. Rome, Pisa: Fabrizio Serra Editore.
Rush, Laurie W. 2012 “Working with the Military to Protect Archaeological Sites and other Forms of Cultural Property.” Journal of World Archaeology. 44:3, 359-377.