Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism

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The Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism (YPSA) is an interdisciplinary center at Yale University in New Haven, CT devoted to the study of both historical and contemporary forms of antisemitism. Housed at the Whitney Humanities Center, YPSA sponsors lectures and conferences, produces videos, and provides research grants to Yale faculty and students. It was founded amid controversy in 2011, following the decision by the Yale administration to shut down YIISA, the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism. The current director of YPSA is Maurice Samuels, Betty Jane Anlyan Professor of French at Yale University.

Contents

History

In June 2011, after a review by a faculty committee, then Provost of Yale University (now President), Peter Salovey, announced the closing of the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism. [1] Salovey cited insufficient scholarly activity as the main reason for the closing of the center. [2] After an outcry in certain segments of the Jewish community and the press over the closing, a small group of Yale faculty met with Salovey and then-President Richard Levin to ask that a new center be created. [3] On June 19, 2011, the university announced the creation of the Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism, with Maurice Samuels as the inaugural director. [4] Samuels is a specialist in the history of Jews in France. In a statement on June 21, 2011, Samuels announced that the new program would focus on both historical and contemporary forms of antisemitism: “Like many, I am concerned by the recent upsurge in violence against Jews around the world and YPSA will address these concerns,” Samuels wrote. “I also believe that we benefit a great deal by placing current events into historical context. YPSA will not refrain from exploring any controversial contemporary topic.” [5]

Activities

Since its founding in 2011, YPSA has organized conferences on a number of topics relating to both contemporary and historical forms of antisemitism, such as: “Antisemitism in France: Past, Present, Future” (2012); [6] “Exodus or Exile: The Departure of Jews from Muslim Countries, 1948-1978” (2013); and “Troubling Legacies: Antisemitism in Antiquity and its Aftermath” (2014). It also runs the Benjamin and Barbara Zucker Lecture Series, which has featured a number of talks on recent cases of Islamist terrorist attacks on Jews in Europe and elsewhere.

YPSA administers the Salo W. and Jeannette M. Baron Research grants for Yale faculty and students studying antisemitism, named in honor of the Jewish historian Salo Wittmayer Baron (1895–1989) and his wife. YPSA has produced a video featuring University of Illinois professor Cary Nelson discussing the “Ten Worst Things about BDS,” opposing the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. YPSA also houses the Yale Archive for Iranian Jewish Testimonies, founded in 2014 by the journalist Roya Hakakian.

Related Research Articles

Antisemitism is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. This sentiment is a form of racism, and a person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Though antisemitism is overwhelmingly perpetrated by non-Jews, it may occasionally be perpetrated by Jews in a phenomenon known as auto-antisemitism. Primarily, antisemitic tendencies may be motivated by negative sentiment towards Jews as a people or by negative sentiment towards Jews with regard to Judaism. In the former case, usually presented as racial antisemitism, a person's hostility is driven by the belief that Jews constitute a distinct race with inherent traits or characteristics that are repulsive or inferior to the preferred traits or characteristics within that person's society. In the latter case, known as religious antisemitism, a person's hostility is driven by their religion's perception of Jews and Judaism, typically encompassing doctrines of supersession that expect or demand Jews to turn away from Judaism and submit to the religion presenting itself as Judaism's successor faith—this is a common theme within the other Abrahamic religions. The development of racial and religious antisemitism has historically been encouraged by anti-Judaism, though the concept itself is distinct from antisemitism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philosemitism</span> Respect and appreciation of Jewish people

Philosemitism is a notable interest in, respect for, and appreciation of the Jewish people, their history, and the influence of Judaism, particularly on the part of a non-Jew. In the aftermath of World War II, the phenomenon of philosemitism saw a great increase throughout Europe following the Holocaust, reshaping the relationship between Jews and European societies. American historian G. Daniel Cohen states that philosemitism "can indeed easily recycle antisemitic themes, recreate Jewish otherness, or strategically compensate for Holocaust guilt".

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New antisemitism is the concept that a new form of antisemitism which developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, tends to manifest itself as anti-Zionism and criticism of the Israeli government. The concept is included in some definitions of antisemitism, such as the working definition of antisemitism and the 3D test of antisemitism. The concept dates to the early 1970s, although the identification of anti-Zionism with antisemitism has "long been de rigueur in Jewish communal and broader pro-Israel circles".

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Charles Asher Small is a Canadian intellectual, the founder and director of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy the first international interdisciplinary research center dedicated to studying antisemitism with a contemporary focus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Racial antisemitism</span> Prejudice and discrimination against Jews based on race or ethnicity

Racial antisemitism is prejudice against Jews based on a belief or assertion that Jews constitute a distinct race that has inherent traits or characteristics that appear in some way abhorrent or inherently inferior or otherwise different from the traits or characteristics of the rest of a society. The abhorrence may find expression in the form of discrimination, stereotypes or caricatures. Racial antisemitism may present Jews, as a group, as a threat in some way to the values or safety of a society. Racial antisemitism can seem deeper-rooted than religious antisemitism, because for religious antisemites conversion of Jews remains an option and once converted the "Jew" is gone. In the context of racial antisemitism Jews cannot get rid of their Jewishness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert S. Wistrich</span> Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1945–2015)

Robert Solomon Wistrich was a scholar of antisemitism, considered one of the world's foremost authorities on antisemitism.

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Antony Lerman is a British writer who specialises in the study of antisemitism, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, multiculturalism, and the place of religion in society. From 2006 to early 2009, he was Director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, a think tank on issues affecting Jewish communities in Europe. From December 1999 to 2006, he was Chief Executive of the Hanadiv Charitable Foundation, renamed the Rothschild Foundation Europe in 2007. He is a founding member of the Jewish Forum for Justice and Human Rights, and a former editor of Patterns of Prejudice, a quarterly academic journal focusing on the sociology of race and ethnicity.

The Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA) was an academic center at Yale University. Founded in 2006, it was the first university-based center in North America dedicated to the study of antisemitism. Professor Charles A. Small was YIISA's inaugural director.

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Maurice Samuels is the Betty Jane Anlyan Professor of French at Yale University. He graduated with a BA in 1990 from Harvard University, where he also earned his MA (1995) and PhD (2000). Before moving to Yale in 2006, Samuels taught at the University of Pennsylvania. He specializes in the literature and culture of nineteenth-century France and in Jewish Studies, and is the author of books and articles on these and other topics. He is the inaugural director of the Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism.

The working definition of antisemitism, also called the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism or IHRA definition, is a non-legally binding statement on what antisemitism is, that reads: "Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities." Accompanying the working definition, but of disputed status, are 11 illustrative examples whose purpose is described as guiding the IHRA in its work, seven of which relate to criticism of the Israeli government. As such, pro-Israeli organizations have been advocates for the worldwide legal adoption of the definition.

References

  1. Jeffrey Herf Salovey (5 June 2011). "Why Did Yale Close, Then Open, A Center for Studying Anti-Semitism?". New Republic. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  2. Carole Bass (July 2016). "Anti-Semitism Research Center is Closed". Yale Alumni Magazine. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  3. Deborah Lipstadt (5 June 2011). "How to Study Antisemitism". Forward. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  4. Eli Markham (21 June 2011). "Yale Announces Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism". Yale Daily News. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  5. Ben Kline (28 October 2011). "Working Definition" . Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  6. YPSA (31 August 2011). "Conference on Antisemitism in France: Past, Present, Future" . Retrieved 12 April 2016.