Speakers:
Frances Tanzer (Rose Professor of Holocaust Studies and Modern Jewish History and Culture, Strassler Center)
Johanna Vollhardt (Associate Professor, Psychology and Director, Peace and Conflict Studies)
Already before October 7, institutions (including colleges and universities) began to adopt narrow definitions of antisemitism—especially the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition—and use them for purposes outside of their original intention of preventing anti-Jewish discrimination. Instead, institutions have deployed definitions of antisemitism to restrict academic freedom, free speech, and to repress activism on campuses—a development many experts worry will increase rather than curb antisemitism. In this workshop, Professors Tanzer and Vollhardt will examine and historicize this paradoxical situation and the controversies around definitions of antisemitism. Participants in this hands-on workshop will learn what exactly the IHRA definition of antisemitism states and how its original drafter, Kenneth S. Stern intended it to be used. We will also examine alternative working definitions of antisemitism (the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism and the Nexus Project definition). Together we will discuss questions such as: What is antisemitism and what is it not? How should antisemitism be distinguished from criticisms of Israel and of Zionism? What are the consequences of adopting definitions of antisemitism in institutions of higher education, and how can we avoid the repression of academic freedom and free speech in the name of preventing antisemitism?
Presented by the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies. Cosponsored by the Center for Gender, Race and Area Studies.
