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The Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism holds seminars, workshops and conferences for scholars, and lectures, discussions and film screenings that are open to everyone.

Beyond Camps and Forced Labour Virtual Symposium: New initiatives and debates around Holocaust memorialisation
Wiener Holocaust Library Collections

To mark the postponed seventh international multidisciplinary conference, Beyond Camps and Forced Labour, this virtual symposium will explore new international debates in Holocaust memorialisation.

Mapping the Holocaust
Geographies of the Holocaust

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL LECTURE 2022

1st February, 2022

Mapping the Holocaust

Tim Cole, University of Bristol

Forty years after the first edition of Martin Gilbert’s ‘Atlas of the Holocaust’ was published. Professor Cole examines four decades of mapping the Holocaust in the analogue and digital age. He also poses a broader question: why should historians and the wider public concern themselves with mapping the past?

The Presence/Absence of Israel as an Object of Focus in Britain’s Public Holocaust Memory

Webinar | For Scholars

8th February, 2022

The Presence/Absence of Israel as an Object of Focus in Britain’s Public Holocaust Memory

David Tollerton, University of Exeter

In contemporary Britain, the relationship between public Holocaust memory and discussion of the State of Israel is both sensitive and complex. In this talk David Tollerton will discuss a too-often unacknowledged aspect of the Holocaust’s legacy in 21st century Britain.

Jewish-Christian Relations in Postwar Britain

Webinar | For Scholars

12th May, 2022

Jewish-Christian Relations in Postwar Britain

Gavin Schaffer, University of Birmingham

In the postwar period, Jewish-Christian relations have been characterised by an increase in dialogue and mutual respect, and a spirit of post-Holocaust contrition on behalf of church leaders. 

In this talk, Professor Schaffer considers this postwar atmosphere as an example of interfaith relations, focusing on residual tensions and challenges, specifically on Jewish suspicions concerning Christian evangelism.

Nationalism’s Pathologies, Diaspora’s Fragility, Zionism’s Promises: Polish Jewish Thought and Choice in the 1930s

Public Event | Online

18th May, 2022

Nationalism’s Pathologies, Diaspora’s Fragility, Zionism’s Promises: Polish Jewish Thought and Choice in the 1930s

Kenneth B. Moss, The University of Chicago

The mid-1920s brought stability to Poland and sped the assimilation of its three million Jews. But already in the late 1920s, many began to believe that there was little prospect of a decent future for Europe’s largest Jewish community. In this lecture, Professor Moss explores how intellectuals and ordinary people confronted this crisis of their future.

Decoding Antisemitism: Hate Speech and Imagery Online

SEMINAR SERIES | ANTISEMITISM NOW

19th May, 2022

Decoding Antisemitism: Hate Speech and Imagery Online

Matthias J Becker, Technische Universität Berlin

This pathbreaking project investigates the extent and forms of antisemitic hate speech on websites and social media platforms in France, Germany and the UK.

In this talk, Dr Becker will outline the project’s approach and its practical application: developing AI machine learning capable of recognizing explicit and implicit antisemitic hate speech.

Defining Antisemitism: between history and politics

INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP AND PUBLIC LECTURES

30th May, 2022

Defining Antisemitism: between history and politics

Bruno Chaouat, Univeristy of Minnesota; Moshe Halbertal, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and New York University; Esra Özyürek, Univeristy of Cambridge; and others.

This workshop, conceived by the Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism in partnership with The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and others, will provide a space for scholars from different disciplines to examine the current debate over definitions of antisemitism and to explore what is at stake. It will give historical and theoretical depth to a heated political debate.

Defining Antisemitism – Reflections from and on the Field – Roundtable

Public Event | Online

31st May, 2022

Defining Antisemitism – Reflections from and on the Field – Roundtable

Seth Anziska, University College London; Saba-Nur Cheema, Frankfurt University; Moshe Zimmermann, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Emeritus); Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Advisor on International Law and Human Rights, former member of Knesset. Chair: David Feldman, Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism

The question of how to define and combat antisemitism divides both the Jewish world and global opinion, with Israel and Zionism at the heart of these disputes. This roundtable brings together voices from diverse perspectives to take a closer look at what is antisemitism today.

Understanding Antisemitism: Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, and Religion – Public lecture

Public Event | Online

1st June, 2022

Understanding Antisemitism: Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, and Religion – Public lecture

Bruno Chaouat, University of Minnesota

The plethora of explanations of antisemitism is testimony to the complexity of “the longest hatred.” In this lecture, Professor Chaouat asks, can we outline the trends that remain constant in antisemitic bigotry?

Antisemitisms: A Variety of Meanings? – Roundtable

Public Event | Online

1st June, 2022

Antisemitisms: A Variety of Meanings? – Roundtable

Danny Trom, CNRS, France; Karma Ben Johanan, The Humboldt University of Berlin; Adi M. Ophir, Brown University (Emeritus) and Tel Aviv University; Raef Zreik, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. Chair: Shai Lavi, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and Tel Aviv University

In this roundtable, scholars with diverse views will discuss the questions of whether anti-Zionism is antisemitic. Is it right to link the fight against antisemitism to other struggles against racism and xenophobia? Can antisemitism be defined, and do existing definitions advance the fight against it? 

A Holocaust Counter-Memorial: Stolpersteine and Competing Narratives of History and Memory

Seminar | For Scholars

16th June, 2022

A Holocaust Counter-Memorial: Stolpersteine and Competing Narratives of History and Memory

Ruth Mandel, University College London and Rachel Lehr, University of Colorado Boulder

Placed throughout Europe, Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) are memorials which mark the final homes of victims of Nazi violence. Based on multi-sited research on the German artist, Gunter Demnig’s Stolperstein Holocaust memorial project, this talk will focus on the improvised rituals that descendants create to accompany the dedications and installations.

Jewish Perceptions of Antisemitism: Reflections on Contemporary European Data

SEMINAR SERIES | ANTISEMITISM NOW

29th June, 2022

Jewish Perceptions of Antisemitism: Reflections on Contemporary European Data

Sergio DellaPergola, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

In this seminar, Sergio DellaPergola will examine the perceptions and experiences of antisemitism following an inductive approach, turning the conventional analyses upside down to focus on the voices and perspectives of the object and victims of hostility and prejudice – the Jews.

Conspiracy and Antisemitism: Combatting the Protocols of the Elders of Zion 100 Years Ago and Why this Remains Significant Today

Public Event

7th July, 2022

Conspiracy and Antisemitism: Combatting the Protocols of the Elders of Zion 100 Years Ago and Why this Remains Significant Today

David Feldman, Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism

In this lecture David Feldman explores the appeal of conspiracy theory in the years after the First World War and the responses of British Jews to the threat they faced. He asks how this history can illumine the challenges we face combatting antisemitism today.  

The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till

Black History Month | Sunday Screening and Discussion

16th October, 2022

The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till

Keith Beauchamp, Filmmaker

“The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till” (2005), produced and directed by Keith Beauchamp, presents a compelling examination of racism in 1950s America. This award winning documentary, which took over nine years to complete, examines the circumstances surrounding the murder of Emmett Till and the outrage that followed.

The Politics of Memory and the Return of the Xenophobic Right

SEMINAR SERIES | ANTISEMITISM NOW

20th October, 2022

The Politics of Memory and the Return of the Xenophobic Right

Valentina Pisanty, University of Bergamo

In this seminar Valentina Pisanty asks whether over the last twenty years the simultaneous growth of Holocaust memorialisation and racism are two independent historical threads, or whether there is a connection between them? She asks whether a society which wishes to oppose the current wave of xenophobia should examine this contradiction?

No Englishman did it: Jews, the News, and the Whitechapel Murders of 1888

Public Event

24th October, 2022

No Englishman did it: Jews, the News, and the Whitechapel Murders of 1888

Mia Spiro, University of Glasgow

This lecture looks at popular suspicions that Jack the Ripper was a Jewish migrant and the reactions to these accusations among Jews. By looking at contemporary reportage in newspapers we will see how readers and writers used print media to draw attention to the boundaries between ‘Englishman’ and foreigner, fact and fiction, and the limits of religious certitude in the face of inexplicable evil. 

“A Foul and Violent Orgy”: James Baldwin on Holocaust Exceptionalism and Black Revolt

Black History Month | Seminar for Scholars

“A Foul and Violent Orgy”: James Baldwin on Holocaust Exceptionalism and Black Revolt

Ben Ratskoff, Hebrew Union College and the University of Southern California

In James Baldwin’s protracted and ambivalent engagement with Holocaust history and memory in the 1960s, Baldwin coded moral orientations toward the Holocaust to political orientations toward Black oppression and revolt.

Professor David Feldman, Director – 4

Our work shows how antisemitism has often been intertwined with anti-Muslim, anti-migrant, anti-black and anti-Irish bigotries. Antisemitism and other racisms should not be considered in isolation and still less in competition.

Professor David Feldman, Director

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