Antisemitism: History and Myth 

(5 Wednesdays, Feb 17, March 2, 30, May 4, 18)

Antisemitism was central to the ideology of Nazi genocide. However, antisemitism and anti-Judaism existed long before the rise of Nazism and was a powerful force in many places besides Germany. Antisemitism continues to resurface in European politics today, seventy years after the end of World War II. How should we think about the history and politics of antisemitism? Is it the story of one long and unchanging hatred? Or has it transformed over time? During this semester, we will look at antisemitism and anti-Judaism in a variety of specific historical contexts, from the medieval period to the pogroms of late imperial Russia to the contentious debates about antisemitism in Europe today, in order to think more carefully about changes and continuities in the long history of hatred against Jews.
 
The following sessions will take place at The Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, 12 College Avenue, New Brunswick on Wednesdays from 4:30 – 7:30 p.m. Dinner provided.
 
February 17 Antisemitism and Anti-Judaism in Medieval Times
Paola Tartakoff, Rutgers University
March 2 Blood Libel Accusations, Pogroms, and Antisemitism in Russia and the Soviet Union
Elissa Bemporad, Queens College, CUNY
March 30 Visual images of Jews in Nazi Germany: Propaganda Posters, Cartoons and Caricatures 
Eddy Portnoy, YIVO
May 4 Racism and the Holocaust
Jonathan Judaken, Rhodes College
Douglass Campus Center, Dinner 5:30 pm;
Reckoning with Post-Holocaust Antisemitism in Europe Public Talk 7:30 pm
May 18 The Impact of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion
Paul Hanebrink, Rutgers University  

MTI Faculty and Staff

Karen Small, Associate Director
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Jodi Marcou, Program Coordinator
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848-932-4165

Colleen Tambuscio, Educational Consultant
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Paul Hannebrink, Faculty Advisor
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