Teaching about antisemitism’s history and effects to promote awareness and prevention. As a professor of history at American University, Pamela Nadell’s courses have covered the history of antisemitism in the ancient, medieval, and modern worlds. As a public intellectual, she has lectured widely on this topic beyond the classroom. She has spoken at colleges and universities across the country (Columbia, MIT, Stanford, UCLA, and many others) and in Europe and Israel. She frequently speaks for Jewish and educational organizations. She has also testified before Congress three times on the impact antisemitism has on American life.
Listen to Pamela Nadell, director of the Jewish Studies Program at American University and an expert on the history of anti-Semitism, speaking with ABC NewsRadio’s Sarah Morice that anti-Semitism is on the rise not only in Australia but globally.
A recent Washington Post article traces the deep-rooted history of antisemitism in American higher education from the 18th century to today’s campus tensions. Pamela Nadell, a historian and director of American University’s Jewish Studies Program, explains how Columbia University, like other elite institutions in the 1920s, restricted Jewish admissions to preserve its Protestant-dominated culture. The article highlights how such exclusionary policies shaped university demographics and how antisemitism continues to manifest in academic settings today.