Drawing on more than 40 years of empirical research on anti-Semitism in Europe and the U.S., Professor William I. Brustein offers key insights into the ubiquity of anti-Semitism. Among the questions to be addressed in his presentation are:
- Why were so many people indifferent to the fate of the Jews on the eve of the Holocaust?
- Why did anti-Semitism reach such heights before the Holocaust?
- How do we explain societal and temporal variation in anti-Semitism?
- How does anti-Semitism differ from other forms of ethnic, racial and religious prejudice?
- Is leftist anti-Semitism new?
- How does present-day anti-Semitism differ from past anti-Semitism?
William I. Brustein stepped down as Vice President for Global Strategies and International Affairs at West Virginia University to assume the position of Eberly Family Distinguished Professor of History (currently emeritus). Professor Brustein has published widely in the areas of political extremism and ethnic/religious/racial prejudice. Among Brustein’s awarding-winning books are The Logic of Evil: The Social Origins of the Nazi Party, 1925-1933 (Yale University Press) and Roots of Hate: Anti-Semitism in Europe Before the Holocaust (Cambridge University Press).