Housed at the Whitney Humanities Center, the Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism (YPSA) leverages Yale University’s resources to address the pervasive issue of antisemitism. As one of the longest-running programs of its kind in the United States, YPSA has been at the forefront of academic inquiry into antisemitism for nearly fifteen years.
Maurice Samuels, the Betty Jane Anlyan Professor of French, has directed the program since it was founded in 2011, and Linda Maizels, Ph.D., became the program’s first managing director in February 2025.
Under their leadership, YPSA offers a robust schedule of programming, including lectures, panel discussions, and conferences that are open to both the scholarly community and the public. Notable speakers have included New York Times journalist Roger Cohen; literary critic and author Ruth Franklin; poet, critic, and editor Adam Kirsch; The New Yorker music critic Alex Ross; director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate Ken Stern; and historian of early modern religion Magda Teter. These speakers, along with countless others, have shed light on antisemitism both as a singular phenomenon and in relation to other forms of discrimination and racism.
YPSA’s annual conferences provide a platform for in-depth exploration of specific aspects of antisemitism, covering topics such as “Antisemitism in France: Past, Present, and Future,” “Exodus or Exile? The Departure of Jews from Muslim Countries, 1948–1978,” and “Racism, Antisemitism, and the Radical Right.”
The program also provides grants to Yale faculty and students, sponsors a faculty reading group, hosts visiting faculty, and supports postdoctoral fellows.
For more information, please visit the YPSA website.