Tackling Antisemitism and Islamophobia on College Campuses: Lessons from Harvard

March 5, 2026 | Danielle Allen and Derek Penslar (Harvard) This lecture will explore how the field of higher education has responded to the recent uptick in antisemitism and Islamophobia in the United States. Featuring Professors Danielle Allen and Derek Penslar from Harvard University, it will examine the history and consequences of Harvard’s Presidential Task Forces on Antisemitism and Anti-Muslim bias. It will also interrogate some of the challenges and advantages of marshaling an institutional response to campus-wide discrimination and prejudices. Antisemitism and Islamophobia: Connected Histories In an era marked by rising hate crimes and polarized public discourse, understanding the interconnected nature of antisemitism and Islamophobia has become an urgent imperative. From deadly attacks in Pittsburgh and Christchurch to the surge in campus tensions following October 7, we are witnessing how these parallel forms of discrimination not only coexist but often reinforce each other through shared mechanisms of othering, racialization, and exclusion. This lecture series takes a distinctive comparative approach, examining antisemitism and Islamophobia not as isolated phenomena but as entangled histories that reveal fundamental patterns in how societies construct and target minorities. By bringing these two forms of prejudice into conversation, we aim to uncover what their similarities and differences teach us about the architecture of discrimination itself—and how we might better dismantle it. Social Media: Facebook:   / katzcenterupenn   Instagram:   / katzcenterupenn   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/katzcenterup...