Scholars explored antisemitism through history and its intersection with universities in a wide-ranging conference May 14 at Harvard’s Enterprise Research Center.
Universities reflect movements and biases in broader society, speakers noted — a reality that helps explain antisemitism on campus but doesn’t provide a clear roadmap for countering it. Even so, they said, it’s important that higher ed leaders confront the issue in the strongest terms. The symposium was seen as a key step along those lines.
“Academic conferences don’t solve things ordinarily: That’s not their function.” said Noah Feldman, Harvard’s Arthur Kingsley Porter University Professor, who introduced the event. “The function of an academic conference is to explore, study, and seek to get a better understanding. Our objective — always in this University — should be to pursue the truth and to do that in an open-minded way that welcomes all different points of view and perspectives.”
“Antisemitism and Universities” drew scholars from Harvard, Dartmouth College, the University of California at Berkeley, Johns Hopkins University, and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. It was sponsored by the Center for Jewish Studies, Harvard Law School, and the Office of the President and Provost.
