Annual Rothschild Lecture to Feature Dr. Sigal Ben-Porath on “Campus Speech About Jews After October 7"

The Tam Institute for Jewish Studies (TIJS) at Emory University will feature Prof. Sigal Ben-Porath of the University of Pennsylvania as the speaker for this year’s Rabbi Jacob M. Memorial Rothschild Lecture. The lecture, to take place on Tuesday, October 29 at 7:00pm, will address the topic: “Campus Speech About Jews After October 7.” This free, on-campus event will be held in Emory's Carlos Museum, Ackerman Hall (571 South Kilgo Cir NE, Atlanta, GA 30322). Advanced registration is required to secure a seat, which you may complete here: tinyurl.com/emoryrothschildlecture.

Since October 7 the rhetoric about Israel, Jews, Zionism and antisemitism has escalated and intensified. This talk will consider the continuity of this rhetoric with past claims about Zionism and Judaism, and the shifts represented by recent protests and boycott efforts. Join Professor Ben-Porath as she outlines possible boundaries, and the consequences of setting and enforcing them.

Dr. Ben-Porath is the faculty director of the SNF Paideia program for dialogue and civic engagement and Presidential Professor of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. Prof. Ben-Porath holds secondary appointments in Penn’s Departments of Political Science and Philosophy. Her recent books include Cancel Wars (University of Chicago Press, 2023), Free Speech on Campus (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017), and Making Up Our Mind (with Michael Johanek; University of Chicago Press, 2019).

The Rothschild Lecture was established in 2007 to honor the late Rabbi Jacob M. Rothschild (1911-1973), the spiritual leader of Atlanta's Hebrew Benevolent Congregation (“The Temple”), and a voice for social change in the city and throughout the South. Each year a guest scholar memorializes Rothschild with a lecture on a topic relevant to his life and work, such as Jewish ethics, Jewish social movements, modern Judaism, or southern Jewish history.

Co-sponsors: Emory University’s Bill and Carol Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry, Center for Ethics, Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Departments of History, Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies, Political Science and Religion, Emory Libraries and Carlos Museum, and the Hightower Fund

Contact TIJS Communications Coordinator, Brent Buckley, with any questions at brent.buckley@emory.edu.

Published 9/12/24