Rehumanizing Unidentifiable Human Remains in the Museum Space

For her capstone project, Ellie Luchini participated in the course ARTHIST 222- "Looted Art: Histories and Restitution" where she produced a twenty-page paper, a presentation, and weekly reading notes. Her paper proposed an alternative treatment for unidentified and unclaimed human remains that are currently in collections for the use of research, utilizing sessions of the Human Rights Council that highlight the human right to dignity and respect even after death and several case studies regarding the display of the remains of individuals from cultures which valued burial traditions to argue that unidentified and unclaimed human remains still have a right to burial. Lastly, Luchini’s class presentation talked about the history of and the contemporary debates around the display of Ancient Egyptian mummified remains in museums.