Education
Gratz College Launches America’s First Master’s Degree in Antisemitism Studies
PHILADELPHIA, February 22, 2024 (Newswire.com) - Gratz College is launching the first Master of Arts degree program in Antisemitism Studies in the United States in Fall 2024. This ground-breaking program will help fill the vacuum of knowledge about antisemitism across Jewish, non-Jewish, and governmental organizations responsible for generating policy to combat prejudice at a time of unprecedented Jew hatred.
It will:
• Provide an academic home for those seeking to develop both a deep theoretical and practical understanding of antisemitism;
• Help generate new and impactful research on the factors that contribute to growing antisemitism and test interventions that can successfully combat it; and
• Arm educators and practitioners with the most effective antisemitism pedagogy and programming.
Through degree concentrations in teaching, advocacy and research, graduates of this program will be uniquely qualified for prominent careers in education, think tanks, government relations, public policy, and community organizations (Jewish and non-Jewish).
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is eager to see this program take shape:
“We’re seeing a dangerous rise in antisemitism, hatred, and bigotry across our country – and it’s more important than ever that Pennsylvanians be equipped with a thorough knowledge of our shared history and the skills to discern fact from fiction. Gratz College is already renowned for its Holocaust and Genocide Studies programs, and I am encouraged the College is expanding upon that work with a new Master’s degree in Antisemitism Studies. I wish the faculty, staff, and especially the inaugural class of Antisemitism Studies students, great success in their work.”
The program is directed by Dr. Ayal Feinberg, antisemitism studies expert and Director of the Center for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights at Gratz College. The program boasts a distinguished interdisciplinary faculty from academia and leading public advocacy organizations. Despite its infancy, the degree has been endorsed by nearly one hundred scholars and public policy experts from around the world. Professor of Political Science at Kalamazoo College R. Amy Elman asserts, “With an emphasis on operationalizing knowledge, informed teaching and ethical advocacy, Gratz’s innovative graduate program fulfills a deep need in countering antisemitism.”
Gratz’s Antisemitism Studies program is also establishing ground-breaking partnerships with the world’s most prominent Jewish organizations and programs to combat antisemitism in the classroom, on campus, and in professional workspaces. In the first such partnership, Gratz and The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History have joined forces to launch the National Education Fellowship on Antisemitism. The aim of this fellowship is to generate and assess paradigm-shifting middle and high school curriculum to reduce Jew-hatred and prejudice more broadly.
As an early adopter of online education, a 128-year history of Jewish learning, and home to the world’s largest graduate program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Gratz is uniquely qualified to take on this necessary and overdue program.
On March 4, 2024, the master’s degree program will kick-off with a series of public lectures, including by scholars serving as affiliate faculty for the program. On April 2, 2024, Dr. Avinoam Patt, inaugural director of NYU’s Center for Study of Antisemitism and the Maurice Greenberg Professor of Holocaust Studies, will deliver a keynote lecture, titled, "Awake My People": Jewish Responses to Antisemitism in the Modern Period.” Additional talks will take place before the program officially begins in August.
Prospective students eager to start may apply now and take courses as early as March 2024 with electives in Antisemitism Studies already developed as a preview to the program.
Gratz College is grateful to the Isidore and Penny Myers Foundation for generously supporting the launch of the Antisemitism Studies program. Jay Myers, Board Chair, shared: “The Isidore and Penny Myers Foundation, a family foundation guided by Jewish American values, sees great worth in educating future generations about the roots of Antisemitism, and by doing so, working to combat it. This degree program will create scholars who can devote their talent to meet this challenge. Our Foundation is proud to support this work and by so doing, meet our obligation to help repair the world.”
Contact: lcohen@gratz.edu for more information.
Contact Information:Lori Cohen
Director of Marketing and Design
lcohen@gratz.edu
215-635-7300 x182
Original Source: Gratz College Launches America's First Master's Degree in Antisemitism Studies
Latest Fit News
The 2023 Global Healing Festival by Embodied Black Girl Returns, Disrupting Grind Culture and Centering Rest
BROOKLYN, N.Y., June 1, 2023 (Newswire.com) - The Global Healing Festival by Embodied Black Girl returns for its fourth annual festival on June 9, 2023. The festival is the first of its kind and nourishes the healing and liberation of Black women and women of color while enlivening culture change and making wellness, somatics and mental health more accessible to the communities that need it most.
Every year the free grassroots virtual festival attracts thousands of participants around the world, primarily through word of mouth.
Curated by the global wellness and leadership education platform, Embodied Black Girl, the day-long online, interactive and immersive festival experience, includes in-depth workshops and thought-provoking conversations with today's leading visionary cultural shapers.
This year's theme, The Future is Embodied: The Rest-volution, is an invitation to enter the dream space and leave grind culture behind. In spite of the grim statistics and policies that impact Black women in particular, we root for a vision of joy, hope and self-determination.
In keeping this festival free through the years, our hope is to make wellness, somatics and mental health more accessible to Black women and folks of color and, in turn, create a world where we are seen, held and empowered. In this space, rest is life and our bodies transform into revolutionary portals and oracles for liberation.
The festival will be hosted by Embodied Black Girl founder Thérèse Cator, who'll be joined by honored guests:
- Tricia Hersey, founder of The Nap Ministry and NYT Bestselling Author of Rest is Resistance
- Dr. Jennifer Mullan, founder of Decolonizing Therapy and author of the forthcoming book Decolonizing Therapy: Oppression, Historical Trauma and Politicizing Your Practice (W. W. Norton & Company)
- Tigidankay "TK" Saccoh, founder of The Darkest Hue, a digital platform that centers the experiences and perspectives of dark-skinned Black girls, women, and femmes
- Natalee Facey, Resilience Coach and Birth Doula
The festival will explore questions like…
- How does rest support our individual and collective liberation?
- How can we move beyond a cognitive understanding of rest to an embodied knowing of rest?
- How can we foster deeper embodiment while having difficult and necessary conversations within our family and communities?
- What dreams are we here to birth and nurture that will support personal and communal thriving?
For more information and to register to attend, please visit https://embodiedblackgirl.com/ghf-2023/.
Contact Information:EBG Press
hello@embodiedblackgirl.com
Original Source: The 2023 Global Healing Festival by Embodied Black Girl Returns, Disrupting Grind Culture and Centering Rest
