- Initiative: Conference
Beinner Annual Symposium
Contextualizing Antisemitism in Today’s American Jewish Landscape (2025)
The Annual Beinner Symposium unites leading scholars and practitioners from diverse fields—including history, literature, economics, sociology, journalism, and more—to engage in meaningful dialogue and foster innovative collaborations that illuminate the complexities of the American Jewish experience.
This year, we will once again welcome prominent journalists and historians to situate the pressing issues facing Jewish Americans today within a historical context. Building on last year’s discussions, we will broaden our exploration to include the contours of antisemitism in the United States over the past year. As we reflect on recent events, we will consider how the changing landscape may influence the manifestations of antisemitism moving forward.
Central to our discussions will be a series of interconnected questions: What does the past reveal about the current state of antisemitism in America? How are these sentiments evolving, particularly on college campuses? In what ways can historical insights empower us to address contemporary challenges?
By creating a space for open dialogue between journalists who contextualize current events within historical frameworks and historians who strive to make their research relevant to today’s issues, we aim to cultivate a rich exchange of ideas. Together, we will seek to understand the unique moment we find ourselves in.
Book Talk: Antisemitism, an American Tradition
Join author Pamela S. Nadell in conversation with Franklin Foer of The Atlantic, September 29th, 2025 at 7pm Eastern at The Center for Jewish History and online.
In Antisemitism, an American Tradition, scholar Pamela S. Nadell investigates the depth of this fraught history. She explores how Jews fought antisemitism through the law and by creating organizations to speak for them. Jews would also fight back with their fists or join with allies in fighting all types of hate. This momentous work sounds the alarm on a hatred that continues to plague our country.
The discussion is jointly presented by Tulane University’s Stuart and Suzanne Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience, the American Jewish Historical Society and The Center for Jewish History as part of the Beinner Symposium.
History Meets the Moment: Journalists and Historians in the Post-October 7th World (2024)
The Annual Beinner Symposium brings together world-renowned scholars from a variety of disciplines – from history to literature, to economics, to sociology and more – to foster innovative collaborations that open new directions for the study of the American Jewish experience. The Inaugural Beinner Symposium will bring leading journalists and historians together to address the current moment in time for Jewish Americans. Journalists who see the value in engaging with history will come together with historians who aim to give their own research contemporary relevance, providing a space for closed dialogue to learn from one another and to flesh out ideas.
At the heart of our discussion will be a central set of related questions: In what ways is this a unique moment for American Jews, and how can the past inform our understanding of the present?
A Unique Moment for Jewish Americans? With Franklin Foer, Mark Oppenheimer, Pamela Nadell and Susannah Heschel moderated by Michael Cohen
Shabbat Shuvah Guest Speaker Michael Cohen at Touro Synagogue
This year’s Shabbat Shuvah guest speaker was Dr. Michael Cohen, the Stuart and Suzanne Grant Professor in the American Jewish Experience at Tulane University, and the Director of Tulane’s Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience. On September 25, 2024, Mike convened a group of leading journalists and historians in New York City to address the current moment in time for Jewish Americans. The Beinner Symposium’s goal was to explore how this moment fits into the larger arc of American Jewish history, and Mike talked about some of his observations from the discussions. He shared with us a series of questions that emerged which may help us to make sense of this moment, touching upon events on college campuses, the past and future of progressive alliances, the ways in which antisemitism plays out in an era of polarization, as well as the utility of definitions.
Participating Scholars
Franklin Foer
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The Atlantic
Mark Oppenheimer
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Washington University in St. Louis
Andrew Lapin
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Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Emma Green
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The New Yorker
Pamela Nadell
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American University
Eric L. Goldstein
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Emory University
Susannah Heschel
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Dartmouth College
Rachel Kranson
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University of Pittsburgh
Michael Cohen
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Tulane University
