Terrorism. Looting. Political factionalism and more.

The news is full of threats to heritage sites and museums around the globe. In the University of Michigan Museum Studies Program Fall 2015 Lecture Series, speakers will examine threats to museums, collections and historic sites in the Middle East, Greece, India and the United States.

The series opens with “Calculated Frightfulness of ISIS: Threats to Middle Eastern Cultural Heritage in Historical Perspective” by Geoff Emberling. The talk is at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Helmut Stern Auditorium, U-M Museum of Art. Emberling is assistant research scientist at U-M’s Kelsey Museum of Archaeology.

 The series will move forward with speakers identifying factors that are fueling the ongoing loss of objects, monuments and historical places. They will explore why heritage destruction in distant regions matters to those of us thousands of miles removed.

They also will consider the challenges to heritage preservation in our own backyard. They’ll examine the ways that international organizations, national and local governments, NGOs, communities and individuals are responding to the challenges facing museums and heritage sites.

Emberling’s talk is sponsored by the Kelsey Museum, Center for Middle East and North African Studies, and the Department of Near Eastern Studies. For more information about the series, go to ummsp.rackham.umich.edu.