Innovative, Independent, Inclusive

The Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism is a centre of innovative research and teaching on antisemitism, racialization and religious intolerance. It contributes to knowledge and understanding, policy formation and public debate.

What's On

Seminars, conferences, workshops, public lectures

Study

Public courses, undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, MPhil/PhDs

Resources

Books, essays, reports, comment, podcasts

Research

Projects, partnerships, networks, fellowships

WORLD LEADING EXPERTISE

Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism

The Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism was established in 2010 by Birkbeck, University of London and Pears Foundation.   

We are the only university centre in the UK dedicated to the study of antisemitism and one of only two in Europe. The Institute is renowned internationally for its innovative research and teaching. 

Our work is framed by our conviction that antisemitism is a distinctive form of racism. Through our research and public activity we establish points of connection between the problem of antisemitism and the challenge of racisms more broadly. 

Our scholarship contributes to public debate on antisemitism, racialization and religious intolerance and we provide expertise and advice to a wide range of institutions in the UK, Europe and the wider world.    

The Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism is both independent and inclusive. 

 Explore the Institute

Activity

What's On

Anti-Jewish racism and violence after 7th October and before

SEMINAR SERIES | ANTISEMITISM NOW

12th December, 2023

Anti-Jewish racism and violence after 7th October and before

Camila Bassi, Sheffield Hallam University and Yair Wallach, SOAS, University of London

The massacre and hostage taking carried out by Hamas on the 7th October 2023 has provoked different reactions. In this seminar, Camila Bassi and Yair Wallach examine responses to anti-Jewish violence.

Image: Barbara Rich.

Where Does Antisemitism Come From?

Where Does Antisemitism Come From?

Issac Chotiner interviews David Feldman

The New Yorker, 7 November 2023

David Feldman brings a historical perspective to the current rise in antisemitism and the cultural and political forces at work.

Image: Sean Gallup/Getty.

On Slaughter and Solidarity

On Slaughter and Solidarity

David Feldman and Brendan McGeever

Vashti, 9 November 2023

As conflation and confusion abound after the 7 October, how do we make sense of the slaughter and the simultaneous rise in antisemitism? David Feldman and Brendan McGeever argue for the need for clear thinking.

Antisemitism and the Politics of History

Antisemitism and the Politics of History

Scott Ury and Guy Miron (eds.)

Brandeis University Press, November 2023

A ground-breaking study of 17 essays by prominent scholars examines the history of and dilemmas associated with using “antisemitism” and related terms as tools for both historical analysis and public discourse. Contributors include: David Engel, David Feldman and Stefanie Schüler-Springorum.

The politics of definition: does defining racism help overcome it?

SEMINAR SERIES | ANTISEMITISM NOW

The politics of definition: does defining racism help overcome it?

Rebecca Ruth Gould, SOAS and Marc Volovici, University of Haifa

In this seminar, Marc Volovici and Rebecca Ruth Gould will consider the value and limits of definitions in confronting antisemitism and Islamophobia and the potential merits of alternative approaches.

A multiracial Jewish family in the early Atlantic World

Black History Month | Public Lecture

A multiracial Jewish family in the early Atlantic World

Laura Arnold Leibman, Reed College, United States

In this talk, Laura Leibman reveals how an early multiracial Jewish family who began their lives poor, Christian and enslaved in the Caribbean became some of the wealthiest Jews in New York. Their story mirrors that of the largely forgotten people of mixed African and Jewish ancestry and sheds new light on the fluidity of race in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Statement – 2

The Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism explores the pattern of antisemitism both today and in the past. We connect research on antisemitism to the wider study of racialization and intolerance.

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