Antisemitism dates back millennia and has been called “the longest hatred.” The passions that fuel it—fear, envy, jealousy, resentment, suspicion, anger, xenophobic wariness and distrust—remain familiar, but the forms this hatred takes change over time.
The Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism (ISCA) at Indiana University offers courses and pursues high-level scholarly research into present-day manifestations of anti-Jewish animosity. Such hostility finds public expression through aggressive acts and words. ISCA examines both of these and the relationships between them, especially the intellectual and ideological roots of the “new” antisemitism. In doing so, we seek to elucidate the social, cultural, religious, and political forces that nurture anti-Jewish hostility.