Join Us to Learn About Combating Contemporary Antisemitism

Antisemitism is a deeply embedded and persistent ideology that continues to influence and impact individuals and communities all around the world. This form of hate crosses political boundaries, national borders, generations, education levels and other demographic markers—and it most certainly makes its way into our schools. 

This year our Combating Racism and Antisemitism in the 21st Century webinar series will focus on what educators need to learn and unlearn in order to help our students recognize and confront contemporary antisemitism effectively. Anyone can register to join our free webinars live or watch recordings of them at a later date. 

On November 15, 2023 from 4-5 p.m. ET, Ben Freeman, Jewish educator and author of the book Jewish Pride: Rebuilding a People, and multidisciplinary artist and educator Sara Yacobi-Harris (Periphery, No Silence on Race) will speak with Facing History in our webinar Combating Erasive Hate: Jewish Identity in the Face of Antisemitism. Erasive antisemitism manifests in the erasure of Jewish identity or the erasure of Jews as victims of prejudice. 

On February 27, 2024 from 7-8 p.m. ET, in our webinar Hearing from Our Youth: Experiences with Hate and Its Impact on Jewish Identity, we will have young filmmaker Elijah Marche speak about his experiences with antisemitism, which, in part, inspired the making of his powerful short film Still. We will view his film together. 

Our last webinar in the series, Harnessing the Power of Literature to Combat Antisemitism, will take place on May 2, 2024 from 7-8 p.m. ET. This webinar will be a conversation among YA (Young Adult) authors Liza Wiemer and Sarah Darer Littman, who have written novels about the impacts of contemporary antisemitism. Joining Liza and Sarah will be Western States Center Fellow Jessica Acee, who cowrote a toolkit for educators on confronting white nationalism in schools.

Professional Development Opportunity:

For educators looking for in-depth support and training in teaching Contemporary Antisemitism, we will be offering our four-week mini-course Brave Classrooms: Taking On Antisemitism in Schools from February 8 to February 29, 2024.This mini-course, which includes weekly live sessions and asynchronous work in between live sessions, will prepare educators to teach students the relevance and importance of recognizing and addressing antisemitism. It will also look at the history and evolution of this hateful ideology, consider some of its contemporary manifestations, and present steps to help students stand up against this form of hatred and bigotry.

Lesson Highlight:

Deconstructing Antisemitic Memes: Helping Students Critically View Online Hate is a lesson designed to teach students to recognize and analyze antisemitic messaging on social media; identify the antisemitic tropes and conspiracy narratives embedded in these memes; and respond to online hate effectively