A Conversation About Modern Antisemitism & Islamophobia

Co-moderated by Larry J. Cohen and Adam Wiesen

Join Dr. Mehnaz Afridi, Professor of Islam and Holocaust studies at Manhattan College, in a conversation with Dr. Ari M. Gordon, Director of Muslim-Jewish Relations at the American Jewish Committee, for a conversation and Q & A about the current state of Antisemitism and Islamophobia in America.

Together, they’ll discuss the importance of protecting civil liberties, providing ways to engage in meaningful and productive dialogue as well as maintaining mutual respect throughout our respective industries.

Dr. Afridi is Professor of Religious studies and Director of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan College.  She teaches courses on Islam, the Holocaust, Genocide, comparative religion, and feminism.  Her recent book Shoah through Muslim Eyes (Academic Studies Press, 2017) was nominated for the Yad Vashem International Book Prize for Holocaust Research. Her forthcoming book is The Wounded Muslim, (Lexington Press, 2023) and she is co-editing a book with Mark Celinscak, International Approaches to the Holocaust, (University of Nebraska Press, 2023). She is Executive Director of Tazkiyah Peace Partners, she is on the board of the Elie Wiesel Foundation, Consortium of Higher Education Centers of Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights and the board of The Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom.

Dr. Ari Gordon is Director of Muslim-Jewish Relations for AJC, where he builds partnerships between Jews and Muslims enabling them to work together on issues of common concern and fostering productive engagement on issues of difference. His work is based on the premise that healthy Muslim-Jewish relations help both communities and strengthens the democratic fabric of our world. Gordon is a master teacher who lectures regularly in academic, Jewish, and multifaith settings on Judaism, the history of interreligious relations, and religion in the world today. He previously served as Special Advisor for Interreligious Relations and as Assistant Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations for AJC. A graduate of Yeshiva University (BA 2005) and Harvard Divinity School (MTS 2010), Gordon completed a PhD in Islamic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, where his research focused on sacred geography and interreligious relations in Islam’s formative period. Gordon, who grew up in Philadelphia, is fluent in Arabic and Hebrew.