The Yale Initiative for the Study of Anti-Semitism

Antisemitism in Comparative Perspective

Anti-Judaism, or the controversial term coined in the 1870s by Wilhelm Marr, Antisemitism, is one of the most complex and, at times, perplexing forms of hatred. It spans history, infecting different societies, religious and philosophical movements, and even civilizations. In the aftermath of the Holocaust, some contend that Antisemitism illustrates the limitations of the Enlightenment and modernity itself. Manifestations of Antisemitism emerge in numerous ideological based narratives and the constructed identities of belonging and otherness such as race and ethnicity, nationalisms, and anti-nationalisms.

This seminar series, co-sponsored with the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, aims to explore this subject matter in a comprehensive, interdisciplinary framework from an array of approaches and perspectives as well as regional contexts. Eminent scholars and researchers are invited to present seminar papers in an informal setting. To enhance the level of discussion, papers will be made available online one week prior to the seminar.

The Antisemitism in Comparative Perspective seminar series meets on Thursdays from 4:15-5:45 p.m. at ISPS, 77 Prospect Street, Room A002 OR in Linsly-Chittenden Hall, 63 High Street.

Organizer: Charles Small, Director, Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA).
Contact for information: Cindy Mindell, (203) 432-5239

Links to current papers are provided by clicking on the speaker's name when underlined.
Archived seminar papers and videos: 2005-2006 Seminar Series

FALL 2006
SEP 28	James Carroll, Fellow at Harvard University and Author of Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews--A History; House of War; and An American Requiem "The Church and the Jews: The Lessons of History" (Video Link)
OCT 12	Irwin Cotler, Member of the Canadian Parliament, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Professor of Law (on leave), McGill University "Human Rights and the New Anti-Jewishness" (Video Link)
OCT 19	Jonathan Brent, Associate Director/Editorial Director, Yale University Press "The Uses of Antisemitism in Russia's New/Old Cold War" (Video Link)
NOV 2	Roya Hakakian, Fellow at the Yale Whitney Humanities Center and Founding Member of Iran Human Rights Documentation Center "The Case of Iranian Jews Today: The Limits of the Term Antisemitism" (Video Link)
NOV 9	Milton Shain, Director, Isaac & Jessie Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Cape Town "Continuities, Discontinuities and Contingencies: Anti-Alienism, Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism in 20th Century South Africa " ( Video Link)
NOV 30	Matthias Kuntzel, Technical College, Hamburg, and Research Fellow at the Vidal Sassoon Institute, Hebrew University, Jerusalem "Hitler's Legacy: Islamic Antisemitism in the Middle East" (Video Link)
DEC 7	Guy Raz, NPR, Former Senior Reporter CNN Jerusalem "Covering Antisemitism: From Nazi Germany to the Modern Middle East, A Reporter's Notebook" (Video Link)
SPRING 2007
JAN 25	Antony Polonsky, Albert Abramson Chair of Holocaust Studies, Brandeis University, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum "Poles, Jews, and the Problems of Divided Memory" Jan Gross, Professor of War and Society, Princeton University "Polish Anti-semitism after Auschwitz" This joint seminar will be held in Linsly-Chittenden Hall, 63 High Street, room 102 (Video Link)
FEB 8	Yigal Carmon, President, Founder of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) "The Iranian Regime and Genocidal Antisemitism" This seminar will be held in Linsly-Chittenden Hall, 63 High Street, room 101 (Video Link)
FEB 15	Michael Keith, Professor, Director of the Centre for Urban and Community Studies, Goldsmiths College, University of London "Geopolitics on the Street; Transnationalism, the Political Imaginary and a Personal Account of Contemporary London's Elections" This seminar will be held at ISPS, 77 Prospect Street, room A002 (Video Link)
FEB 22	Gabriel Schoenfeld, Senior Editor of Commentary Magazine "The Return of Antisemitism" This seminar will be held in Linsly-Chittenden Hall, 63 High Street, room 101 (Video Link)
MAR 1	Bassam Tibi, Professor of International Relations, University of Gottingen, Germany "Bringing Antisemitism Back to Europe. The Virus of Antisemitism in the European Diaspora of Islam" This seminar will be held in Linsly-Chittenden Hall, 63 High Street, room 101 (Video Link)
MAR 8	Ron Rosenbaum, Essayist, and Author of Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil "Thinking about the Unthinkable: The Rhetorical Strategies of Holocaust Deniers and the Prospect of a Second Holocaust" This seminar will be held in ISPS, 77 Prospect Street, room A002 (Video Link)
MAR 29	James Woolsey, Chair, Freedom House, Former Director of the CIA "Energy, Security and the Long War of the 21st Century" This seminar will be held in Linsly-Chittenden Hall, 63 High Street, room 101 (Video Link)
APR 12	Ruth R. Wisse, Professor, Martin Peretz Professor of Yiddish Literature; Professor of Comparative Literature, Harvard University "Why Antisemitism Succeeds" This seminar will be held in LInsly-Chittenden Hall, 63 High Street, room 101 (Video Link)
APR 19	Wolgang Benz, Director, Center for Research on Antisemitism, University Technical Berlin "Antisemitism as Phenomenon of Every Day Life in Contemporary Germany" This seminar will be held at ISPS, 77 Prospect Street, room A002 (Video Link)
APR 24	Michael Whine, Director of the Community Security Trust in Britain "The New Antisemitism and Security Threats to Jewish Communities" (Video Link)
APR 26	Gerald Steinberg, Professor, Bar Ilan University "NGOs and the Durban Strategy: Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, and the Distortion of Human Rights " This seminar will be held in Linsly-Chittenden Hall, 63 High Street, room 101 (Video Link)