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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Yale Pulls the Plug on Anti-Semitism Institute

The Anti-Defamation League is balking at Yale's decision to eliminate its course of study on anti-semitism. 

A faculty review committee said the 5-year-old Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Anti-Semitism did not meet its standards on research and teaching, the New Haven Register reports,

The national director of the ADL said that, whatever the problems were, Yale should have tried to fix them, rather than shut down the program.

"Especially at a time when anti-Semitism continues to be virulent and anti-Israel parties treat any effort to address issues relating to anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism as illegitimate, Yale's decision is particularly unfortunate and dismaying," Abrahma Foxman said in a statement.

Political Science professor Donald Green told the Register that all programs are reviewed after five years on how well they promote interdisciplinary research and instruction at Yale.

"Little scholarly work appeared in top-tier journals in behavioral science, comparative politics, or history. Courses created in this area did not attract large numbers of students," Green said.