Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education
Anti-Racism Plan
Dec. 2, 2021
As scholars, we are committed to using race and diversity as analytical categories with ethical implications.
Our project on desired educational outcomes across religious traditions is, at the same time, about diverse racial and ethnic experiences, given the prominence of nonwhites among American Muslims. In our work on Jewish day schools, we created space at our conference in 2018 to discuss the experience of racial minorities in the schools, and we will be including a chapter on that topic in the book that we are editing. Likewise, our project on adult Jewish learning incorporates a study that specifically focuses on the experience of nonwhite adults.
We have also begun to explore the possibility of a new scholarly initiative that would focus on the experiences and perspectives of Jews of color more generally. There has been a great deal of activity on this topic in recent years, and of course even more intensively this spring, in the form of journalism, personal accounts, advocacy, training and more. What is missing, however, is good, patient, rigorous scholarship. This is the role that Brandeis should play if we aspire to be the location for serious investigation of important Jewish topics.
This initiative should be led by one or more scholars of color; these leaders could have an affiliation with Brandeis related to this initiative without necessarily holding faculty appointments. It should be multidisciplinary, encompassing social scientific study of the experiences and perspective of Jews of color but also scholarship that draws on history, philosophy and literature. To the extent possible, it should include Brandeis faculty as collaborators or critical colleagues, and should provide learning and research opportunities for Brandeis students. Finally, it should integrate an outward-facing element, serving the Jewish community.