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Antisemitism: A Political TraditionVirtual Series, Fall 2024
Cosponsored by 猫咪社区app University鈥檚 Jewish Studies Program and AU鈥檚 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 鈥 or blamed on 鈥 the actions of Jews themselves. Please join us for our听2024 Virtual Series, Antisemitism: A Political Tradition,听where our speakers present cutting-edge research and fresh perspectives to address what has been called 鈥渢he oldest hatred.鈥 This series showcases AU faculty and alumni鈥檚 scholarly expertise in the study of antisemitism.
Complete video playlist:听听(and individual videos below).听
Please see also our previous series, Antisemitism since the Holocaust.
Schedule:
- September 30: Dr. Michael Brenner
- October 7: Dr. Pamela Nadell
- October 14: Dr. Julie Keresztes
- October 21: Dr. Lauren Strauss
- October 28: Dr. Nathalie Japkowicz
- November 4: Dr. Robert Williams
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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 猫咪社区app University. 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 Hitler鈥檚 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.听Pamela Nadell, "Understanding Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism: A Guide for the 猫咪社区app University Community"October 7
Lecture:听In the spring semester 2023, 猫咪社区app University鈥檚 Jewish Studies Program published Understanding Antisemitism: A Guide for the 猫咪社区app University Community. Lead author Pamela Nadell worked with AU 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 Women鈥檚 and Gender History at 猫咪社区app University. Her book听America鈥檚 Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to Today听won the 2019 National Jewish Book Award鈥檚 鈥淛ewish Book of the Year.鈥 A National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholars Award supports her current book project, Antisemitism, an 猫咪社区app Tradition. Past president of the Association for Jewish Studies, she consults for the museum planned for the rebuild of Pittsburgh鈥檚 Tree of Life and was the fourth witness in the Congressional hearing that included three university presidents.
Dr.听Julie Keresztes, "Antisemitism in Times of Crisis: The Case of Hitler鈥檚 Photographer"October 14
Lecture: Antisemitism traditionally escalates in times of crisis. This talk examines the crises that caused many Germans, among them Adolf Hitler鈥檚 personal photographer Heinrich Hoffmann, to embrace antisemitism after 1918.
Bio:听Dr. Julie R. Keresztes is a historian of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. She is the 2022-2025 Postdoctoral Fellow at 猫咪社区app University 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. Lauren Strauss, "Walking on a Tightrope: How Antisemitism Shapes the Image and Self-Image of America's Jews"October 21
Lecture: How have 猫咪社区app Jews navigated their own image in the 猫咪社区app 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?听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听Lauren B. Strauss is the Director of Undergraduate Studies for 猫咪社区app University鈥檚 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.听Nathalie Japkowicz, "Combatting Antisemitism in Extremist Social Media"October 28
Lecture: This talk will present recent Artificial Intelligence-based strategies developed at 猫咪社区app University to discover coded antisemitic terminology in extremist social media posts and analyze the posts鈥 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 猫咪社区app University. She recently completed a six-year term as the department鈥檚 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:听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: , who received his PhD听from 猫咪社区app University, is the Finci-Viterbi Executive Director of the 猫咪社区appC Shoah Foundation, the UNESCO Chair on Antisemitism and Holocaust Research, and the Advisor to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.