YPSA Mission Statement
The Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism (YPSA) marshals the resources of Yale University and its faculty to study the pernicious problem of antisemitism, which historian Robert Wistrich called “the longest hatred.”
The program, housed at the Whitney Humanities Center, invites scholars from across the University—including art history, history, law, literature, philosophy, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology—to analyze antisemitism in an atmosphere of interdisciplinary collaboration and scholarly inquiry. YPSA focuses on both past and present forms of antisemitism. It promotes the study of the perception of Jews, both positive and negative, in various societies and historical moments. The program also encourages the study of antisemitism as a singular phenomenon as well as comparisons with other forms of discrimination and racism.
History of YPSA
The Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism was founded in 2011. At the time it was one of only two university-based programs in the country dedicated to the study of antisemitism. Under the guidance of Maurice Samuels, the Betty Jane Anlyan Professor of French, YPSA instituted a robust schedule of programming, including lectures by leading scholars, both from Yale and other institutions, and an annual conference focused on a specific theme. All YPSA events are open to both the scholarly community and the public. Many of these programs were recorded and can be found on the YPSA website.
YPSA has always focused on stimulating new research of the highest caliber by making research grants available to Yale faculty and students. The program also seeks to foster the study of antisemitism across the curriculum by regularly hosting visiting faculty and supporting postdoctoral candidates to further their research.
If the Jew did not exist, the antisemite would invent him.
—Jean Paul Sartre
YPSA Today
Realizing that contemporary antisemitism is a growing problem in the United States and abroad, the faculty and staff of YPSA are developing new resources to address the challenges of the present and the future.
YPSA will continue to encourage the broad-based study of antisemitism from antiquity through the present. Although the term Antisemitismus was coined in Germany in the 1870s, the roots of this animosity toward Jews stretch back several millennia. Antisemitism can be found throughout the world—even in societies with few or no Jews—and its expression has led to some of the most horrifying events in human history, including the Nazi genocide. Because of this long history, and because instances of rhetorical and physical violence against Jews are again on the rise, the need to study antisemitism, its causes and manifestations, and to map its permutations, is all the more pressing. YPSA is committed to studying all aspects of antisemitism in its many and diverse forms.
In February 2025, YPSA hired its first full-time managing director. Linda Maizels, Ph.D., will support the mission of the program by working closely with YPSA Director Maurice Samuels to expand YPSA’s programming and strengthen the program’s outreach to the Yale community.
Both Samuels and Maizels have published books that demonstrate the type of research that is integral to the mission of YPSA. Samuels’ 2024 biography, Alfred Dreyfus: The Man at the Center of the Affair, was published by Yale University Press as part of its “Jewish Lives” series. Maizels’ 2022 survey, What is Antisemitism? A Contemporary Introduction, was published by Routledge as part of its “What is Religion?” series. With Samuels and Maizels at the helm, YPSA will continue to seek out the highest caliber of research from scholars in the United States and abroad and share it with the Yale community and others who support YPSA’s mission and goals.
Another essential role that YPSA plays in the larger campus community is to challenge the notion that contemporary academia presents a monolithic and negative approach to the study of Jews, Judaism, Israel, and antisemitism. The existence of YPSA, along with its partners at the Brodie Center for Jewish and Israeli Law, the Program in Jewish Studies, and the Modern Hebrew Program, is a testament to Yale’s long tradition of supporting a high level of scholarship and offering abundant learning opportunities about all aspects of the Jewish experience. YPSA also hosts postdoctoral associates who teach classes on antisemitism and assist with programming and outreach.
The program also assures that Yale will continue to foster a diversity of opinion on campus by encouraging discussion and debate around a range of topics, including Israel, Zionism, and the Jewish experience in the United States and beyond. Moreover, YPSA partners with student life organizations at Yale, such as the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life and the Chaplain’s Office, to ensure that all students have access to resources they can use to grapple with the challenging issues posed by contemporary antisemitism.
…White nationalism, which emerged in the wake of the 1960s civil rights struggle and descends from White supremacism, is a revolutionary social movement committed to building a Whites-only nation, and antisemitism forms its theoretical core.
—Eric Ward