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Podcast: North Star with Ellin Bessner
Episode: Derek Penslar, a Canadian scholar of Jewish history, hopes to fix Harvard’s antisemitism problem
Description: Six months have passed since the president of Harvard University was forced to resign after she refused to sanction pro-Palestinian protesters. Claudine Gay was one of several university leaders who came under fire at a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., last December during an investigation into how America’s Ivy League schools were failing their Jewish students and staff.
In January, Harvard appointed a presidential task force to study antisemitism, and named professor Derek Penslar as co-chair. Penslar is a prominent Canadian scholar of Jewish history who runs Harvard’s Jewish studies centre. Just a few weeks ago, the...