NYU professor gives talk on antisemitism
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The talk was given by Avinoam Patt, Maurice Greenberg Professor of Holocaust Studies and Inaugural Director of the Center for the Student of Antisemitism at New York University. | uconn.edu
by CLAIRE MARSHALL WATKINS
Opinion Editor
On Monday, The Khatib Program in Religion and Dialogue (KPRD) hosted Avinoam Patt, Maurice Greenberg Professor of Holocaust Studies and Inaugural Director of the Center for the Study of Antisemitism at New York University, who gave a talk on Jewish American history and antisemitism.
“Antisemitism defies logical explanation, and yet we must try to understand its origins, its history in order to learn how best to respond to it and to confront it,” Patt said.
His talk, titled “The Golden Land? Antisemitism and American Jewish History, 1654 – Present,” was born from a course Patt taught called “Why the Jews? Confronting Antisemitism” at the University of Connecticut, that attracted some 1,600 students when first offered. Patt now teaches a similar course at NYU, “Introduction to Antisemitism and Jewish History.”
“As we think about this in the Jewish encounter with America, we can also think about whether it’s appropriate to look back through American history and look for Antisemitism and say, ‘do we see Antisemitism in all of these episodes and incidents that I’m going to talk about? Are they the exception, or are they the rule?’” he said.
Patt offered that there are multiple perspectives through which one can approach Jewish history and the study of antisemitism.
“The optimistic versus pessimistic view can be really powerful in the discussion of religion,” said Celia Golden, a junior religious studies and communication and digital studies double major and an intern for the KPRD.
“I do like to take an optimistic view on things most of the time, but I think knowing that there is more than one way you can read history, and that changes somebody’s outlook on the entire religious landscape of the United States,” Golden said. “If you’re extremely pessimistic, per se, and I’m very positive, and I don’t know that our conversation could be a bit muddled and something gets lost in translation. I feel like if someone attended that talk, there would be a lot more understanding of religious conversation in the United States.”
Patt’s talk is one of two dialogues that the KPRD will host this spring. On April 9, Jordan Denari Duffner will continue the series with her talk titled “Islamophobia: What We All Should Know (and Do) about Anti-Muslim Discrimination.”
“The two lectures are supposed to be a way of getting Mary Washington students and the community to think about anti-religious bigotry,” said Mary Beth Mathews, professor of religious studies and director of the KPRD. “Two groups that tend to get the most hatred are Jews and Muslims,”
She continued, “Mary Washington students are amazingly curious. It’s one of the things I really love about teaching here. If you know that a friend is going to the Jewish Student Association meeting, if you’re interested in tagging along or you want to know more, just ask those questions.”
The KPRD found its home at UMW in 2019 and has since hosted a variety of lectures and events to promote religious dialogue. Patt’s talk was the first exclusively on Judaism, and on antisemitism, in the program on campus.
“[Patt] is incredibly knowledgeable on the subject, one of the most knowledgeable people on the subject actually, and was willing to come all the way over here just for the religion and dialogue program and that’s a huge honor, especially on the Mary Washington campus,” Golden said.
