"Antisemitism on Campus: Survey Evidence from the University of California" - with Jeffrey Kopstein

The Centre for the Study of Democracy and Diversity Presents the Contemporary Antisemitism Lecture Series

with Jeffrey Kopstein | Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of California, Irvine 

"Antisemitism on Campus: Survey Evidence from the University of California" 

Wednesday, November 22, 2023 | 6:30-8:00 PM

Kinesiology 100 | 28 Division Street, Kingston

This lecture series is generously supported by the Azrieli Foundation.

Biography: 

Jeffrey Kopstein is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of California, Irvine. In his research, Professor Kopstein focuses on interethnic violence, voting patterns of minority groups, antisemitism, and anti-liberal tendencies in civil society, paying special attention to cases within European and Russian Jewish history. These interests are central topics in his latest books, Intimate Violence: Anti-Jewish Pogroms on the Eve of the Holocaust (Cornell University Press, 2018) and Politics, Memory, Violence: The New Social Science of the Holocaust (Cornell University Press, 2023).

Abstract: 

Using a random sample of undergraduates at two University of California campuses, this article explores the relationship between antisemitism and anti-Israel attitudes among students. Critics maintain that hostility toward Israel is an indicator of the “new antisemitism.” Activists and their advocates insist that anti-Israel attitudes and behaviors reflect a political conflict that has little to do with antisemitism. Existing empirical of past scholarship shows a strong link.  The article builds upon an earlier 2020 study, using a larger sample across more than one campus. Evidence shows the existence of antisemitism and a modest but statistically significant correlation with hostility to Israel. It also shows the two sets of attitudes are mostly separate. Since part of the survey was conducted after October 7, 2023, the study is also able to assess the independent effect of the Hamas massacre and its aftermath upon student attitudes.