Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Resources for Combating Antisemitism and Islamophobia

Navigating the intricate terrain of historical prejudices, such as Antisemitism and Islamophobia, demands our attention. 

Given the complexity surrounding these longstanding issues, recognizing, naming and confronting concerns can be challenging but is crucial to a community of care. 

The Offices of Campus Life and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion have curated opportunities for the HWS community to delve into the multifaceted landscape of discrimination, encompassing Antisemitism and Islamophobia. By fostering dialogue, empathy and understanding, while addressing incidents of harm, harassment and behavior that may create an unwelcoming environment, we collectively contribute to dismantling the barriers that perpetuate these forms of prejudice, fostering a more inclusive and tolerant community.

Definitions

What is Antisemitism?
Cornell University, referencing NASPA Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, antisemitism is:

• A form of prejudice and/or discrimination directed toward Jews as individuals or as a group.
• Hatred of Jews because of their religious beliefs, their group membership, and sometimes the erroneous belief that Jews are a ‘race’ based on age-old stereotypes and myths.

Some examples included are: 

• Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.
• Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.
• Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews.

What is Islamophobia?
According to Cornell University, Islamophobia is “an extreme fear of and hostility toward Islam and Muslims which often leads to hate speech, hate crimes, as well as social and political discrimination. It can be used to rationalize policies such as mass surveillance, incarceration (imprisonment), and disenfranchisement, and can influence domestic and foreign policy.”

When the term was first introduced in 1991, the definition also included an “unfounded hostility towards Muslims, and therefore fear or dislike of all or most Muslims.” The definition incorporated the following prevailing beliefs:

• “Islam is monolithic and cannot adapt to new realities
• Islam does not share common values with other major faiths
• Islam as a religion is inferior to the West.
  It is archaic, barbaric, and irrational.
• Islam is a religion of violence and supports terrorism.
• Islam is a violent political ideology.”

Online Resources

The resources below were identified by faculty, staff and students from across our HWS community, as well as from other institutions of higher education, for use in an exploration of these critical issues and skill building. If you have a resource you’d like to add, please e-mail dei@hws.edu or campuslife2@hws.edu.

Websites

• Anti-Racism Terminology Guide for Student Leaders
• Challenging Biases Language of Antisemitism
• Debunking Misconceptions About Muslims and Islam
• Expelling Islamophobia
• Islamophobia: Understanding Anti-Muslim Sentiment in the West
• Majority Leader Schumer Delivers Major Address on Antisemitism
• Southern Poverty Law Center: Antisemitism
• Tips on Engaging with Social Media

Books

• Cury, E. (2021). Claiming belonging: Muslim American advocacy in an era of Islamophobia. Cornell University Press. Chicago  (Click to Access at the HWS Library)
• Maizels, L. (2023). What is Antisemitism? : a contemporary introduction. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. (Click to Access at the HWS Library)

Videos

• Antisemitism in our Midst (and discussion questions)
• Muslim Students in America

Articles

• Between Indigence, Islamophobia, and Erasure: Poor and Muslim in "War on Terror" America 
• The Lived Experiences of Anti-Semitism Encountered by Jewish Students on University Campuses: A Phenomenological Study
• Antisemitism. Sapir: A quarterly journal of ideas for a thriving Jewish future

HWS Resources

Offices
Office of Campus Life
Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Spiritual Engagement
Campus Safety

Dialogue Across Difference
Perspectives 

Campus Scholars
Faculty are an invaluable resource on our campus. Their scholarship and teaching inform our campus conversations and deepen our understanding of complex issues. Several faculty in the departments of International Relations, Religious Studies, and Institute for Global Studies fields address the topics on this page in their courses and are available to members of the HWS community as a resource. However, inclusion of a department on this list does not denote that they have vetted or approved each resource on this page.

About this Living Resource Guide

Our resource guide stands as a collaborative effort, drawing inspiration and valuable insights from institutions such as Middlebury, Columbia, Harvard, Cornell and Georgetown. We acknowledge the influence of their guides in shaping the foundation of our own, recognizing the broad knowledge they have contributed to the academic community.

Additionally, we extend our gratitude to our dedicated faculty, staff and students whose collective expertise and suggestions play a pivotal role in enhancing the depth and breadth of our resource compilation. This guide is a living document, one that will inherently be flawed and incomplete because of the complexity of the topic and times. It will continually improve based on the suggestions of our community.  This collaborative endeavor reflects our commitment to fostering a community of shared learning and mutual support. If you have a resource you’d like to add, please e-mail dei@hws.edu or campuslife2@hws.edu.