This course aims to critically examine the theories and methods used in defining, interpreting, and protecting intangible heritages and indigenous cultures. It will engage in current debates about the ownership and authenticity of heritage, by taking into account the approaches and interests of different stakeholders and the negotiations of cultural memories, religious identities, economic resources, and political struggles at the local, national, and global level. Through analyzing historical and ethnographic materials, reading documents on international organizations, public policy, and legal frameworks, the course will address heritage both as a professional field for transmitting shared system of rituals, practices, values and experiences, and as a lens onto broader processes of social, cultural and political change. Students are led to explore the multiple meanings and constructed nature of cultural heritage and to work towards developing a comparative understanding of indigenous cultures not only in China but also around the world.