Conference on Historical and Contemporary Antisemitism - Day 1

Conference on Historical and Contemporary Antisemitism

Co-sponsored by the Faculty of Arts and Science

This conference will bring 20 experts in the field together to discuss historical and contemporary experiences of antisemitism in Jewish communities around the world. This is the inaugural event of the newly launched Lab for the Global Study of Antisemitism led by Ron Levi.

Day 1 of this 2-day conference will take place in Room 100 at the Jackman Humanities Building from 9am - 6pm on September 23. 

Conference on Historical and Contemporary Antisemitism, Program.pdf

Keynote Lecture: "Antisemitism on Campus: A New Survey from the University of California"

Date: Monday, September 23, 2024 at 4PM
Location: JHB100 (170 St. George Street)

Jeffrey Kopstein (University of California, Irvine)

Description:

The outbreak of campus protest after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, renewed and intensified the long-standing debate over whether social activism that questions Israel’s existence, or that is even critical of Israel, simply masks a new form of antisemitism, and whether Jewish students and faculty confront a particularly hostile environment on campus. This lecture interrogates student attitudes on four large campuses at the University of California in the months before and after October 7th.  Based on an original survey, it explores the levels and correlates on antisemitic attitudes, whether universities are incubators of antipathy toward Jews, and the extent to which negative attitudes towards Jews have increased since the outbreak of the war.

Jeffrey Kopstein is Dean’s Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine. In his research, Professor Kopstein focuses on interethnic violence, voting patterns of minority groups, antisemitism, and anti-liberal tendencies in civil society. These interests are central topics in his latest books, Intimate Violence: Anti-Jewish Pogroms on the Eve of the Holocaust (Cornell University Press, 2018), Politics, Memory, Violence: The New Social Science of the Holocaust (Cornell University Press, 2023), and The Assault on the State: How the Global Attack on Modern Government Endangers our Future (Polity, 2024). He has held fellowships at Harvard University, Princeton University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the US Department of Defense, the Fullbright Foundation, and the Anti-Defamation League.

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This keynote lecture will be delivered in-person in JHB100 (170 St. George Street) on Monday, September 23, 2024 at 4 PM. No registration necessary. This event is open to the public with seating on a first come first served basis.