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
Study Reveals the World’s Best Observation Decks for Travelers on a Budget
BERLIN, May 2, 2023 (Newswire.com) - Omio, Europe's leading booking platform for travel, has released a ranking of the world's most affordable observation decks. The study analyzes the entrance fees for the 70 most popular viewing platforms in the world, followed by an offset of the ticket prices against the official height of the building. The result is a well-curated list of the best views for the best price.
In almost every city, observation decks are among the most popular attractions for tourists. This ranking reveals the wide range of ticket prices, starting at $1.14 for the Torre Panorâmica in Curitiba (Brazil) to the Empire State Building in New York City (United States), where the entrance costs around $79.
"Top of Africa" offers the best price for money
The popular viewing platform "Top of Africa" (732ft) on the top floor of the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg offers visitors a unique panoramic view as far as Soweto and the best deal for the money. The entrance fee only costs $1.67 and beats all other observation decks surveyed in the price per foot category ($0.002 per ft). The deck is finally scheduled to reopen in summer 2023.
Table 1: Top 10 best observation decks for travelers on a budget.
| Destination | Observation deck | Height | Ticket | Price per ft. | |
| 1 | Johannesburg, South Africa | Top of Africa | 732ft | $1.67 | $0.002 |
| 2 | Istanbul, Turkey | Istanbul Sapphire | 856ft | $2.68 | $0.003 |
| 3 | Curitiba, Brazil | Torre Panorâmica | 359ft | $1.14 | $0.003 |
| 4 | Riga, Latvia | Riga TV tower | 1,207ft | $3.96 | $0.003 |
| 5 | Cairo, Egypt | Cairo Tower | 614ft | $2.14 | $0.004 |
| 6 | Belgrade, Serbia | TV tower Avala | 673ft | $2.78 | $0.004 |
| 7 | Plzeň, Czech Republic | Cathedral of St. Bartholomew | 338ft | $1.56 | $0.005 |
| 8 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Christ the Redeemer | 2,297ft | $14.36 | $0.006 |
| 9 | Barcelona, Spain | Torre de Collserola | 945ft | $6.00 | $0.006 |
| 10 | Warsaw, Poland | Palace of Culture and Science | 945ft | $5.68 | $0.007 |
From $24 to $79: Observation decks in the US are expensive
The Empire State Building in New York City is probably the most famous observation platform in the world. The viewing deck attracts around 3.5 million visitors per year. The study reveals that visiting a skydeck in the US is rather expensive. The most expensive observation deck is the Empire State Building and a ticket to the 102nd floor costs around $79.
Good that the Big Apple offers plenty of alternatives. The deck of the One World Trade Center only costs about $47 and a ticket to the Top of the Rock observation deck costs about $43.
The Statue of Liberty offers the worst deal for travelers. The monument that includes a viewing deck in the crown is only 305ft tall but one ticket costs $24. A ticket to The Strat in Las Vegas is also around $24 but at least the building is 1,148ft tall.
The best deal for an observation deck in the US is the Willis Tower in Chicago. A ticket to the visitors' floor on top of the 1,450ft-tall building costs only $30.
Further information on the study can be found at the following website: www.omio.com/c/worlds-best-budget-views
Contact Information:Janie Steinke
janie@abcd.agency
Related Files
PR US - Best views - Omio.pdf
Original Source: Study Reveals the World's Best Observation Decks for Travelers on a Budget
