You are here: 51画鋼 College of Arts & Sciences Center for Israel Studies Antisemitism: A Political Tradition

Back to top

Antisemitism: A Political TraditionVirtual Series
Mondays, 4:005:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Fall 2024

Memorial at Pittsburghs Tree of Life Synagogue where, on 10/27/2018, an antisemite and White supremacist murdered 11 people.

Cosponsored by 51画鋼s Jewish Studies Program and 51画鋼s Meltzer Schwartzberg Center for Israel Studies.

In recent years, the world has witnessed a dramatic rise in anti-Jewish incidents, rhetoric and imagery. But in fact, these indicators of anti-Jewish hate are often recycled from earlier eras and retrofitted to current situations. The scholars in this timely lecture series will draw from their respective areas of expertise to elucidate the terminology and imagery of antisemitism in the modern era and the many ways in which it becomes embedded in society via language, media, and technology. This is ultimately a political and social issue that cannot be explained by or blamed on the actions of Jews themselves. Please join us for our油2024 Virtual Series, Antisemitism: A Political Tradition,油where our speakers present cutting-edge research and fresh perspectives to address what has been called the oldest hatred. This series showcases 51画鋼 faculty and alumnis scholarly expertise in the study of antisemitism.

Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link for each session you wish to attend:

Schedule:

油

Dr. Michael Brenner, "How Jew-Hatred Became a Political Weapon: From Anti-Judaism to Antisemitism"
September 30

Lecture: While anti-Jewish hatred is very old, the term antisemitism is relatively new. What are its origins, how does it differ from traditional anti-Judaism, and why does it matter for the modern political discourse?

Bio: Dr. Michael Brenner is Distinguished Professor of History and Seymour and Lillian Abensohn Chair in Israel Studies at 51画鋼. He also holds the chair of Jewish History and Culture at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, and serves as International President of the Leo Baeck Institute for the Study of German-Jewish History. In 2021 he was the first recipient of the Baron Award for Scholarly Excellence in Research of the Jewish Experience. He is the author of ten books, translated into over a dozen languages. His latest books are In Hitlers Munich: Jews, the Revolution, and the Rise of Nazism, (Princeton University Press 2022) and In Search of Israel: The History of an Idea (Princeton University Press, 2018).

Dr.油Pamela Nadell, "Understanding Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism: A Guide for the 51画鋼 Community"October 7

Lecture:油In the spring semester 2023, 51画鋼s Jewish Studies Program published Understanding Antisemitism: A Guide for the 51画鋼 Community. Lead author Pamela Nadell worked with 51画鋼 faculty, students, staff, and administrators to create this guide. This session uses the guide as a jumping off point for understanding antisemitism and anti-Zionism.

Bio: Professor Pamela Nadell holds the Patrick Clendenen Chair in Womens and Gender History at 51画鋼. Her book油Americas Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to Today油won the 2019 National Jewish Book Awards Jewish Book of the Year. A National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholars Award supports her current book project,油Antisemitism, an American Tradition. Past president of the Association for Jewish Studies, she consults for the museum planned for the rebuild of Pittsburghs Tree of Life and was the fourth witness in the Congressional hearing that included three university presidents.

Dr.油Julie Keresztes, "Antisemitism in Times of Crisis: The Case of Hitlers Photographer"October 14

Lecture: Antisemitism traditionally escalates in times of crisis. This talk examines the crises that caused many Germans, among them Adolf Hitlers personal photographer Heinrich Hoffmann, to embrace antisemitism after 1918.

Bio:油Dr. Julie R. Keresztes is a historian of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. She is the 2022-2025 Postdoctoral Fellow at 51画鋼 and at the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Her first book, Photography and the Making of the Nazi Racial Community will be published in January 2025.

Dr.油Lauren Strauss, "Walking on a Tightrope: How Antisemitism Shapes the Image and Self-Image of America's Jews"October 21

Lecture:油How have American Jews navigated their own image in the American political and social arena? Are they far-Left radicals or uber-capitalists? Are they White and therefore suspect in the eyes of some, or non-White (& therefore alien) in the eyes of White suprematists?油To what extent have these ideas been internalized and disseminated by Jews themselves? We will look at these contemporary questions through a historical lens, beginning in the early 20th century.

Bio: Professor油Lauren B. Strauss is the Director of Undergraduate Studies for 51画鋼s Jewish Studies Program. She teaches widely in the fields of Jewish history, politics and culture. She is coeditor of Mediating Modernity: Challenges and Trends in the Jewish Encounter with the Modern World (2008), and her forthcoming book is Painting the Town Red: Jewish Visual Artists, Yiddish Culture, and Radical Politics in Interwar New York. She is currently researching the history of DC-area Jews and their political activism.

Dr.油Nathalie Japkowicz, "Combatting Antisemitism in Extremist Social Media"October 28

Lecture: This talk will present recent Artificial Intelligence-based strategies developed at 51画鋼 to discover coded antisemitic terminology in extremist social media posts and analyze the posts content to identify the specific kind of antisemitism they convey. The talk will be accessible to a general audience.

Bio: Dr. Nathalie Japkowicz is a Professor of Computer Science at 51画鋼. She recently completed a six-year term as the departments Chair. Her area of expertise is Artificial Intelligence, especially Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing, two areas she has explored for over three decades.

Dr. Robert Williams, "Antisemitism and Its Dynamics during Pandemics and Public Health Crises"
November 4

Lecture:油Forms of antisemitism that link to rhetoric on disease serve as particularly effective forms of propaganda that can radicalize communities, lead to social tensions, and inform types of anti-Jewish violence. The justifications for such false linkages have varied over time. Antisemitic themes of disease, contagion, pestilence, and parasitism play upon unconscious fears, making antisemitic claims more insidious and akin to unseen threats to the health and well-being of individuals and their communities.

Bio:油, who received his PhD油from 51画鋼, is the Finci-Viterbi Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation, the UNESCO Chair on Antisemitism and Holocaust Research, and the Advisor to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.