Antisemitism, Democracy, and the Struggle for an Inclusive and Resilient America

Plenary Session
Day One: November 13, 2024 | 3:00 p.m. – 3:55 p.m., Varsity Hall

Session Video

Session Description

A healthy democracy requires that we stand against hate and extremism. Antisemitism does not only threaten the Jewish community – it jeopardizes the rights and safety of countless other communities as well as our fundamental democratic norms and values.

At this critical moment for democracy and our country, this moderated panel conversation will explore the inextricable link between Jewish safety, our democratic freedoms, and the resilience of our interconnected communities.

Session Objectives

  • Explain how antisemitism threatens the rights and safety of Jewish and other communities, as well as fundamental democratic norms and values
  • Describe how to counter hateful and hurtful speech while respecting the First Amendment rights of students, faculty, and staff
  • Explain why the fight against antisemitism and the fight against racism are a shared struggle
  • Identify some common anti-Jewish tropes
  • Identify best practices to support Jewish inclusion on campus

Speakers

Chad Alan Goldberg

Chad Alan Goldberg (he/him) is Martindale-Bascom Professor of Sociology and a faculty affiliate of the Department of History (by courtesy) and the George L. Mosse/Laurence A. Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He has written since 2008 about the history and sociology of antisemitism, he teaches the history of antisemitism in Europe, and he has commented on recent developments in contemporary antisemitism in interviews for Wisconsin Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Television, and other media outlets. His award-winning books include Citizens and Paupers: Relief, Rights, and Race, from the Freedmen’s Bureau to Workfare (University of Chicago Press, 2008); Modernity and the Jews in Western Social Thought (University of Chicago Press, 2017); and (as editor) Education for Democracy: Renewing the Wisconsin Idea (University of Wisconsin Press, 2020).

Thumbnail of speaker Chad Alan Goldberg.

Elana G. Kahn

Elana G. Kahn (she/her) is executive director of the Illinois Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes within the Illinois Department of Human Rights. As part of a career dedicated to community building, interfaith and intergroup relations, and public communication, she has experience in various modalities of conflict resolution, facilitation, and strategic communication.

She served the Milwaukee Jewish community for almost two decades, as Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation and Editor of the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle.

At the JCRC, she launched Hours Against Hate, a local effort to connect people across lines of race, religion, culture, class to dismantle bigotry and promote respect. She cultivated new interfaith and intergroup alliances, including a Black-Jewish Alliance, Muslim-Jewish Partnership, Latino-Jewish Alliance, and a Presbyterian-Jewish Dialogue.

She currently serves as Board Chair of Tikkun B’Yachad: Repairing Together, a youth program focused on intercommunal relations and previously served as board chair of the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee and the American Jewish Press Association. Other board service includes the following: Lux Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology; Community Coalition for Quality Policing; and We are Many: United Against Hate.

She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Emerson College and a master’s degree from Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership.

Thumbnail of speaker Elana G. Kahn.

Amy Spitalnick

Amy Spitalnick (she/her) is the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the national convener of Jewish coalitions working across communities to build a just and inclusive American democracy. She previously served as Executive Director of Integrity First for America, which won its groundbreaking lawsuit against the neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and hate groups responsible for the Charlottesville violence. Under Amy’s leadership, IFA became a powerful national voice in the fight against white supremacy, antisemitism, and extremism – and its Charlottesville case has emerged as a model for accountability.

Amy also serves as a Senior Advisor on Extremism to Human Rights First, on the Advisory Board of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) at American University, and on Bedrock’s National Leadership Council. She has extensive experience in government, politics, and advocacy, including as Communications Director and Senior Policy Advisor to the NY Attorney General and spokesperson and advisor to the New York City Mayor. She has also worked for a number of federal, state, and local officials, campaigns, and advocacy organizations, including as J Street’s first press secretary.

Amy frequently appears in national media and has been awarded various fellowships and honors, including being named a Women inPower Fellow at the 92nd Street Y, a Truman National Security Project Fellow, a City & State 40 Under 40 Rising Star, and a NY Jewish Week 36 Under 36 Changemaker. She graduated from Tufts University.

Thumbnail of speaker Amy Spitalnick.

John Zumbrunnen

John Zumbrunnen is the senior vice provost for Academic Affairs and Vice Provost for Teaching & Learning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He works closely with the university’s provost on special projects and strategic initiatives, while working in collaboration with deans and other academic leaders across campus to provide leadership, coordination and administrative support for UW–Madison’s teaching and learning mission. As the vice provost for teaching and learning, Zumbrunnen oversees the Division for Teaching and Learning.

As professor of political science, Zumbrunnen studies the history of political thought, democratic theory and American political thought. Alongside his administrative work, he continues to lead short-term study abroad programs. He has served as the faculty director of Chadbourne Residential College, an educational innovation senior fellow and chair of the Department of Political Science.

Thumbnail of speaker John Zumbrunnen.