Rainbow Lifelong Learning Institute, Boston

Schedule: This course will take place on Zoom on Tuesdays for 10 weeks (9/9/2025 - 11/18/2025)  From 10:30 AM until Noon.  Note: There is no class on 9/23/2025).

Description:

The term “antisemitism” is carrying a lot of confusing political and cultural weight in the United States today. Many Americans have pressing questions about the evolving use of the term, finding it difficult to sort and articulate these questions. The Antisemitism Labyrinth will provide a learning community in which we will, through historical overview and guided inquiry, lift ourselves out of the confusing maze of the heated debates of 2025, to a clearer sense of who we are, Jews and non-Jews alike, and where we stand. Materials will range from in-depth journalism and commentary after October 7, 2023, to curated historical sources, to educational resources developed to address antisemitism at the college level.

Overview of classes

1. The Plot Against America/The Cassandra Conundrum
2. The Longest Hatred” and the Pain of Human Migration
3. The Rise of the West—Caught in Contradiction
4. A Fateful Century—Zionism and Holocaust/Fascism and Colonialism
5. Coming to America—Jews, Race, Identity and Assimilation
6. The Rise of Israel and Global Anti-Racism
7. The Rise of Israel and Global Anti-Racism
8. Backlash—Antisemitism and Racial Reckoning
9. Backlash—Antisemitism and Higher Education
10. The Antisemitism Labyrinth

Required Materials:

The course will be based on a series of articles, which the instructor will provide in pdf format. No preparation is required for the first class.

 Instructor Bio:

 Joshua Frank worked as an educator for twenty-eight years in public schools--sixteen as a teacher, and twelve as an administrator. He completed his undergraduate education at UMass/Amherst, and received Master’s degrees from UMass/Boston and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His areas of special interest include fostering positive, effective teacher-student relationships, and promoting cultural competence and equity in schools. Josh’s 2007 Education Digest article, “When White Educators Discipline Students of Color,” was republished as a “classic” in the August 2015 Connections: The Journal of the National School Reform Faculty