According to the nonprofit Anti-Defamation League, antisemitism has been on the rise here in the U.S. for the past two decades – and 2021 was the highest year on record for documented reports of violence, harassment, and vandalism directed toward Jews.
Since it was founded in 1913, the ADL has been actively monitoring and documenting incidents of antisemitism, as well as advocating for policies and initiatives to counteract it. It has published this information in an annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents since 1979.
Over the decades, researchers have worked to develop, and improve ways to track incidents of antisemitism — and our guest is among a small group of scholars seeking to better understand the phenomenon through research and controlled experimentation.
Dr. Ayal Feinberg is Associate Professor of Political Science & Antisemitism Studies, and Director of the Center for Holocaust Studies & Human Rights at Gratz College in Philadelphia. He was on the Florida Gulf Coast University campus on Thursday, August 31 to give a talk titled “The Promise of Experiments in Measuring Contemporary Antisemitism” so we brought him by the studio to talk and learn about his work.
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