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
Ocean Alliance Announces First-Ever Successful Drone-Based Tagging of Endangered Blue and Fin Whales
GLOUCESTER, Mass., April 19, 2023 (Newswire.com) - For the first time ever, Ocean Alliance and their collaborators have successfully deployed suction cup data-tags on blue and fin whales in the Gulf of California using a drone (UAV). This new deployment method is detailed in an April 2023 publication in the journal Royal Society Open Science and could have significant positive implications for whale science and conservation. Deployment of Biologging Tags on Free Swimming Large Whales Using Uncrewed Aerial Systems. R. Soc. open sci. April 19, 2023 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.221376
This work shows that UAVs are capable of attaching biologging tags to free-swimming large whales. This method may hold advantages for studying vulnerable or hard-to-study species by potentially reducing stress from tagging activities. The work was carried out in collaboration with researchers from Ocean Alliance, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, University of Michigan, and Syracuse University.
"The ability to use the aerial platform for tag deployment provides a huge step forward for the science. This method allows for tags to be attached to whales that might otherwise be difficult to approach with a boat and minimizes any disruption to their normal behaviors. This gives us an opportunity to better understand their behavior to aid in conservation efforts." Dr. Susan Parks, whale acoustics expert and Biology Professor from Syracuse University.
Biologging data tags are critical tools for marine mammal research. The tags are equipped with specialized sensors for recording depth, orientation, acceleration, temperature, acoustics, and even video.
In addition to reduced behavioral impact, "efficient tag deployment enables targeting of specific animals in a group or multi-animal tagging. This ability to target an individual animal and/or doubling or tripling sample size for an experiment will greatly enhance the science and our understanding of these animals." Dr. Alex Shorter, Mechanical Engineering Professor University of Michigan.
Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Research Ecologist Dr. David Wiley, who has used suction-cup tags to study the behavior of whales for almost 30 years, said, "A lot of time and funds have gone into improving tag design and capability, but this is the first real improvement in tag delivery!" Wiley also stated, although the use of UAVs for tag attachment is a major advancement, it, "Takes more than just the desire and a drone to make it happen. The synergy of combining our expertise and experience greatly contributed to our success."
Learn more at instagram.com/SnotBot or www.whale.org.
About Ocean Alliance
Dr. Iain Kerr leads Ocean Alliance's Drones for Whale Research Program. Ocean Alliance is a 501(c)3 non-profit whose mission is to protect whales and their ocean environment through research, scientific collaboration, public education, and the arts.
Dr. Iain Kerr
CEO, Ocean Alliance
kerr@whale.org
978-281-2814 ext 600
Chris Zadra
Drone Program Manager/Drone Pilot
czadra@whale.org
978-281-2814 ext 300
Alicia Pensarosa
Assistant Director, Ocean Alliance
apensarosa@whale.org
978-281-2814 ext 100
Related Images
SnotBot Tagging Blue Whale
Ocean Alliance's SnotBot Drone deploying a bio-logging tag on a blue whale in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Credit: Christian Miller\/Ocean Alliance
Original Source: Ocean Alliance Announces First-Ever Successful Drone-Based Tagging of Endangered Blue and Fin Whales
