Challenging Antisemitism

Lessons from Literacy Classrooms

Edited by Mara Lee Grayson and Judith Chriqui Benchimol

Challenging Antisemitism: Lessons from Literacy Classrooms provides theoretical framing and historical context for understanding contemporary antisemitism and offers teachers curricular ideas and practical strategies to address antisemitism and amplify Jewish voices in secondary and post-secondary literacy classrooms.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 176 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-4758-6482-3 • Hardback • May 2023 • $90.00 • (£69.00)

978-1-4758-6483-0 • Paperback • May 2023 • $36.00 • (£30.00)

978-1-4758-6484-7 • eBook • April 2023 • $34.00 • (£25.00)

Subjects: Education / Violence & Harassment, Social Science / Discrimination & Race Relations, Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / Language Arts, Education / Multicultural Education

Challenging Antisemitism

Lessons from Literacy Classrooms

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Challenging Antisemitism: Lessons from Literacy Classrooms provides theoretical framing and historical context for understanding contemporary antisemitism and offers teachers curricular ideas and practical strategies to address antisemitism and amplify Jewish voices in secondary and post-secondary literacy classrooms.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 176 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-4758-6482-3 • Hardback • May 2023 • $90.00 • (£69.00)

978-1-4758-6483-0 • Paperback • May 2023 • $36.00 • (£30.00)

978-1-4758-6484-7 • eBook • April 2023 • $34.00 • (£25.00)

Subjects: Education / Violence & Harassment, Social Science / Discrimination & Race Relations, Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / Language Arts, Education / Multicultural Education

Author

Mara Lee Grayson is the author of Teaching Racial Literacy: Reflective Practices for Critical Writing, Race Talk in the Age of the Trigger Warning: Recognizing and Challenging Classroom Cultures of Silence, and Antisemitism and the White Supremacist Imaginary: Conflations and Contradictions in Composition and Rhetoric. She works as an associate professor of English at California State University, Dominguez Hills.
Judith Chriqui Benchimol is a college composition and English education lecturer with Sephardic Jewish roots. She holds a Masters degree in Life Writing from University of East Anglia and is presently a Ph.D. candidate and nonfiction writing lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Collection: Why Is It So Hard to Talk about Antisemitism?
Mara Lee Grayson & Judith Chriqui Benchimol
Chapter 1: The Study of Comedic Rhetoric as an Antidote to Antisemitism
Lauri Mattenson
Chapter 2: Repairing the World: Raising Awareness through Social Justice Action in the English Classroom
Rachel Kraushaar
Chapter 3: Avoiding Conflation, Deflection, and Distraction: Untangling Antisemitism from Zionism and Anti-Zionism
Mara Lee Grayson
Chapter 4: Community Engagement Positionality Statements: An Introduction
Alex Slotkin
Chapter 5: Expanding a Pedagogy of Identity
Gillian Steinberg
Chapter 6: Teaching the Past to Protect the Future: Degenerate Art as a Modern-Day Cultural Warning
Cheryl Hogue Smith
Chapter 7: Representations of the Holocaust and Connected Histories
Ania Switzer
Chapter 8: Teaching Art Spiegelman’s Maus and Kendrick Lamar’s album DAMN. in the Predominantly White, Catholic College Classroom
Maureen Daniels Akerib
Chapter 9: Jewish Experiences That Move Beyond Holocaust Narratives: A Resource For English Teachers
Judith Chriqui Benchimol
About the Contributors

Reviews

Challenging Antisemitism: Lessons from Literacy Classrooms provides secondary and university teachers with insightful perspective, language, understanding, and practical resources for addressing antisemitism endemic throughout the curriculum, the texts used in schools, pedagogy, and classroom interaction. With the publication of Challenging Antisemitism, never again can educators say they did not know how antisemitism is woven into the fabric of education; never again can they say they do not know how to rend its invisibility; never again can they say that the pursuit of social justice in education can eschew challenging antisemitism.

— David Bloome, Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University

This collection from Grayson and Benchimol could not be more timely. As the visibility of antisemitism has risen in recent years, many educators and activists struggle to comprehend the nuances and diversity of Jewish history and the Jewish community. The topics outlined in this book shed light on these complexities, ranging from history to present day. Whether or not you are a Jewish educator or teach Jewish students, this is a necessary read for anyone interested in DEI work.

— Liz Kleinrock, Nationally Recognized Antibias and Antiracist Educator

Each chapter gives an overview of the reasoning for selecting resources used in the lesson and a discussion on desired learning objectives, before providing the particulars of their lessons. They are not detailed lesson plans but instead, act as inspiration for teachers to create their lessons. Chapters end with “Concluding Thoughts” and “Questions for Study.” The volume contains a bibliography and index. Challenging Antisemitism is recommended for libraries that serve educators, including public libraries and academic libraries with education curricula.

— Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews

Challenging Antisemitism

Lessons from Literacy Classrooms

Edited by Mara Lee Grayson and Judith Chriqui Benchimol

Challenging Antisemitism

Lessons from Literacy Classrooms

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