Protecting Syria's Treasures

Guest: Amr Al-Azm, PhD, Associate Professor of History and Anthropology, Shawnee State University, Ohio Next week marks the 6th anniversary of the start of the Syrian Civil War that has left hundreds of thousands dead and forced millions to flee their homes. In the years before war broke out between Syria’s Assad regime and his opponents, archaeologist Amr Al-Azm was head of science and conservation in the Antiquities Department of the Syrian government and a professor at the University of Damascus. But political pressure and frustration with the Assad regime led Al-Azm to leave Syria. He spent several years as a visiting professor at BYU before taking his current position as a professor of history and anthropology at Shawnee State University in Ohio, where he also coordinates international efforts to protect Syria’s antiquities from looting and destruction.