The Elizabeth and Tony Comper Center for the Study of Antisemitism and Racism, hosted one of the largest international academic conferences dedicated to the study of contemporary antisemitism. Held over three days, July 7-9, the conference brought together more than 550 scholars, researchers, educators, policymakers, and practitioners from some 20 countries, ranging from India, Sri Lanka to Finland and Brazil. The conference featured some 330 presentations, reflecting the breadth and vitality of contemporary antisemitism research.
The conference also served as the formal launch the Contemporary Antisemitism Studies Association (CASA), a new international academic association dedicated to advancing the academic study of contemporary antisemitism. The formation of such an academic association marks a significant milestone in the development of antisemitism studies as an academic field and will serve as a global professional home for researchers studying antisemitism through a wide range of disciplinary approaches, methodologies, and perspectives. The association will build and support a comprehensive scholarly ecosystem, with annual international conferences, thematic research networks and symposia, an academic journal, a scholarly book series, a research hub, and initiatives designed to communicate research findings to policymakers, educators, and other stakeholders. More than 150 academics have already joined CASA as founding members and an advisory board of leading scholars in the field has been formed to guide the association.
The conference’s gala evening was opened by University of Haifa President Prof. Gur Alroey and Prof. Irwin Cotler. Prof. Dina Porat was presented with the a Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her “academic and public contribution to researching, documenting and defining antisemitism it manifests today.” The keynote address was delivered by Prof. Deborah Lipstadt, former United States Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism. The closing keynote, on the last day of the conference, was delivered by renowned French philosopher and author Bernard-Henri Lévy, who travelled from France to participate in the conference and launch of the Hebrew translation of his book Israel Alone.
The conference concluded with a series of specialized tracks designed to strengthen the connection between academic research and professional practice addressing key areas of scholarship and practice — law and antisemitism; education (which covered informal education, school curricula, etc.); quantitative research methodologies; and a track devoted technology and artificial intelligence, highlighting both the challenges and opportunities presented by rapidly evolving digital technologies as relates to antisemitism.
The conference is hosted by the Elizabeth and Tony Comper Center for the Study of Antisemitism and Racism at the University of Haifa and co-hosted by the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, and the Center for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights at Gratz College, the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism at Indiana University and the Center for the Study of Antisemitism at New York University.
The full program in PDF format is available here.
Education on antisemitism – at the university and beyond
The Comper Center aims to be at the forefront of teaching on contemporary forms of antisemitism – both within the academy and beyond.
At the university, our senior researchers teach two courses on antisemitism and will soon begin an academic track within Israel Studies. This effort will culminate in an international MA program in contemporary antisemitism making the University of Haifa only the second university in the world to offer an MA program in antisemitism studies.
We also want to be active in education beyond the university. Led by Boris Dolin and David Barak-Gorodetsky, we developed a short educational program for Israeli high school students, focusing on antisemitism – in the real world and online — and the challenges faced by Jews around the world following the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and the war in Gaza. We hosted at the University of Haifa four groups of high school students (over 100 students per group) and two groups of educators – all from the Haifa area.