Presented by Britt Tevis, J.D./Ph.D.
American Jewish Historian; Phyllis Backer Assistant Professor in Jewish Studies, Department of History, Syracuse University.
Antisemitism in the United States, though a pressing subject in contemporary politics, is poorly understood. Scholars and public intellectuals often cast antisemitism simplistically, identifying it as a conspiracy theory or as an individual defect. Yet exploring incidents of anti-Jewish bigotry, violence, and discrimination in U.S. history reveals a far more complex reality. What binds anti-Jewish episodes and movements in the United States is the desire to undermine and even eliminate Jews' civil and political rights. Historically, Christian nationalism, racial science, and conspiratorial thinking constitute the three forces that have inspired that objective.
Using archival sources spanning from 1654 through the present, Dr. Tevis will illuminate an array of forgotten examples of antisemitism in the United States to reveal the political dimension of antisemitism as well as the underlying ideological motives propelling its promulgation.
Register to receive the Zoom link to join us online. Barring technical issues, the recording will be posted on our Program Archive.
Britt Tevis is the Phyllis Backer Assistant Professor in Jewish Studies in the Department of History at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. Her work focuses on the intersection of Jews and American law.
Her forthcoming volume, Sanctioned Bigotry: A Documentary History of Antisemitism in the United States, is scheduled for publication by Yale University Press in 2026. She earned her PhD and JD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The Haberman Institute extends a special thank you to Andrew R. Ammerman for sponsoring our 2025 program lineup. He dedicates the semester’s learning in loving memory of Josephine and H. Max Ammerman and Stephen C. Ammerman.