2018 marks the 70th anniversary of both the birth of the State of Israel and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet today, Zionism and human rights often appear as polar opposites in debates about global justice. Alongside Rabbi Shira, historian and author James Loeffler will teach a mini-course exploring today’s rise in anti-Semitism and the enduring conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Class registration includes one copy of his book, Rooted Cosmopolitans: Jews and Human Rights in the Twentieth Century.

About the instructor
James Loeffler is an associate professor of history and Jewish studies at the University of Virginia where he teaches courses in modern Jewish history, European legal history, and the history of human rights. He is the author of two prize-winning books, The Most Musical Nation: Jews and Culture in the Late Russian Empire (2010) and Rooted Cosmopolitans: Jews and Human Rights in the Twentieth Century (2018).