Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism
Introduction The '''Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism''' ('''YIISA''') was an academic center at Yale University. Founded in 2006, it was the first university-based center in North America dedicated to the study of antisemitism. Professor Charles A. Small was YIISA's inaugural director.In 2011, Yale's decision to close YIISA sparked  protest from the American Jewish community. After YIISA's subsequent closure, Yale opened the Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism under the direction of Professor Maurice Samuels.
History Yale University founded the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA) was founded on September 19, 2006.Charles A. Small, founder of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) was the inaugural director of the institute, which was the first university-based institute in North America dedicated to the study of antisemitism. At Yale, YIISA was part of the Institution for Social and Policy Studies.YIISA was the fourth university-based center studying antisemitism in the world, joining institutes at the Technical University of Berlin in Germany, and Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University in Israel. According to Small, the institute's goal was to provide academic evidence of antisemitism in the more extreme forms of anti-Israel advocacy.The initiative launched in September 2006 with a series of seminars by scholars such as Ruth Wisse, former CIA director James Woolsey, former Canadian minister of justice Irwin Cotler.===Closure===In early June 2011, Yale University notified YIISA that the center would be closed at the end of July. While, a Yale spokesman stated that the initiative did not meet "its academic expectations and has been canceled," other reports believed that the closure was a political move and related to the institute's work on Muslim antisemitism.Jewish advocacy groups such as the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League criticized Yale's decision, praising YIISA's academic contributions to the contemporary understanding of antisemitism. Walter Reich, a member of the board of advisers of YIISA and a former director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum wrote that the closure came on the tails of a "firestorm" which ensued after YIISA hosted a conference in August 2010 entitled "Global Antisemitism: A Crisis of Modernity", where some of the speakers highlighted instances of antisemitism in the Arab-Muslim world. Scholar Amitai Etzioni argued that Yale should not have closed the center in response to political pressure.Other scholars, such as Antony Lerman and Robert Wistrich, welcomed Yale's decision to close YIISA, arguing that YIISA was politicized and struggled to establish academic rigor.===Successor program===On June 20, 2011, less than three weeks after Yale's announcement, Yales provost Peter Salovey announced the creation of the Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism (YPSA). In the wake of the YIISA decision, Salovey said a group of faculty members expressed interest in creating a new initiative. Professor Maurice Samuels, director of the new institute, said research would be devoted to both contemporary and historical antisemitism, stating, "Like many, I am concerned by the recent upsurge in violence against Jews around the world. "Small, YIISA's director, expressed skepticism regarding the new program, accusing it of being too historically focused: "Anti-Semitism is a 21st-century relevant issue. To focus on its roots and history, glosses over issues scholars must address today, especially when it comes to the threat of contemporary radical Islamist anti-Semitism."
References
External links *  Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism