Beyond “Eternal Hatred”: Reconsidering the Nature of Antisemitism from a Comparative Perspective

Antisemitism is frequently called “the eternal hatred.” This approach traces anti-Jewish hostility from ancient times to the present. Such chronological depth can be confusing, demanding definitions. The recent resurgence of antisemitism highlights the pernicious nature of anti-Jewish stereotypes and anti-Jewish hostility but also the problems with traditional approaches and explanations. In this talk, using a comparative lens, Magda Teter will try to reconsider the nature of antisemitism away from “eternal hatred” and away from debates over definitions to help us think more deeply about the impact and effects of anti-Jewish hostility.

This event is open to the NYU Community (faculty, students and staff) with a valid NYU ID. Please RSVP via the button below using your nyu.edu email address. A light, kosher lunch will be provided.

All guests must present a valid NYU ID at the check in desk when they arrive for the event.

Magda Teter is Professor of History and the Shvidler Chair in Judaic Studies at Fordham University. She is the author of Jews and Heretics in Catholic Poland (2005), Sinners on Trial: Jews and Sacrilege after the Reformation (2011), Blood Libel: On the Trail of An Antisemitic Myth (2020), Christian Supremacy: Reckoning with the Roots of Antisemitism and Racism (2023), and of dozens of articles in English, Hebrew, Italian, and Polish. Her essays have also appeared in the New York Review of Books, Public Seminar, the JTA, and others. Her book Blood Libel won the 2020 National Jewish Book Award, The George L. Mosse Prize from the American Historical Association, and the Ronald Bainton Prize from the Sixteenth Century Society. Teter has received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, HF Guggenheim Foundation, Radcliffe Institute at Harvard, the Cullman Center at the NYPL, the NEH, and others. She is currently the President of the American Academy of Jewish Research.