From Jewish Studies 280-4: Violence in Israel/Palestine: A History to Humanities 370-4-23: What is Antisemitism?, Northwestern offers several classes that touch on topics related to the Israel-Hamas war.
NU faculty are teaching courses on the politically charged conflict amid the Trump administration’s freeze of $790 million of the University’s federal funding over alleged antisemitism. The University has recently made several efforts to fight antisemitism and Islamophobia.
History Prof. David Shyovitz taught What is Antisemitism? for the first time in Winter Quarter of 2024, shortly after the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas.
“There were many students in the class who, for different kinds of reasons, also felt that the stakes of this felt very personally high to them, and that could have taken us off the rails,” Shyovitz said. “But fortunately, it really added to the educational experience, that was my perspective at least. The more invested someone feels in the topic, the better.”
He said the course met a need particular to that moment, exploring concepts of hatred, violence and discrimination toward Jewish people throughout various historical periods. The course will be offered again in Winter Quarter 2026.
In Jewish Studies 280-4: Violence in Israel/Palestine: A History, Jewish and Israel Studies Prof. Shira Pinhas, focuses on the history of violence in the region in the 20th century with a technological focus.
Beginning with the Ottoman Empire, the class goes through the British mandate to establish the state of Israel and some of the major conflicts and military technologies used in the late 20th century.
Pinhas said she tries to avoid pretending that the topic is neutral, especially because violence often brings up deep emotions.
“My purpose is to try to be as transparent as possible, about my own stakes, my own views, in order to encourage students to actually bring forward their own views and attachments because I think that is really the only way we can actually try to understand historical protagonists’ views and choices,” Pinhas said.
She said although it is a historical course, she explicitly addresses current events by hosting a 10 minute discussion at the beginning of class on contemporary sources, such as newspaper articles or social media posts that students bring in.
Political science Prof. Wendy Pearlman, who has taught Poli Sci 395: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Political Science 351: Middle East Politics since 2009, said her classes focus more on history than most political science classes.
“I am deeply, deeply convinced that it’s really impossible to understand this conflict without deep attention to history,” Pearlman said. “The more that (students’) learning is grounded in an understanding of the historical evolution over time and the consequences of events and issues and how they’ve evolved, the more they understand.”
Pearlman said it is challenging to teach students with a wide range of relationships to the conflict, from those with family in the region to students who feel hesitant to discuss the conflict because they feel they don’t know enough to form an opinion.
Throughout about 16 iterations of the class with NU students, she said their commitment to the spirit of learning and respect for each other hasn’t changed.
Shyovitz said he expects his students to tolerate and express curiosity about opinions they disagree with.
Directed by President Donald Trump’s Executive Order “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism,” the Department of Education launched an investigation alleging “widespread antisemitic harassment” in several universities, including NU.
Federal oversight of the University is “dramatically misplaced,” Shyovitz said. Since much of the federal scrutiny focuses on questions of antisemitism, he said it now feels more important than ever to teach his class and to “not take an executive order as the last word of what antisemitism is.”
“Once we start teaching with the voice in the back of our minds saying, ‘Well, but what’s the government going to say about that?’ then we have lost the game,” Shyovitz said.
He said his approach is not to consciously change anything about his curriculum based on federal concerns.
Instead, Shyovitz said it is critical to double down on the role of higher education by dedicating time to historical study of the topic, noting that he felt those approaches feel riskier than they used to be.
Pinhas echoed Shyovitz, saying that everyone in higher education is in a state of uncertainty, so she insists on teaching these subjects in an attempt to make the classroom a safe space for civil discourse.
On top of that, Pearlman said students need to engage with the news and be citizens of the world.
“How could I look at myself in the mirror and say, ‘I’m not going to teach this class because I’m too afraid to teach it’?” Pearlman said. “I don’t deserve to be a professor and be a scholar of Middle East politics if I can’t go into the classroom and provide this needed service to students because of the intimidation that exists out there.”
Email: [email protected]
X: @catebouvet
Related Stories:
— Northwestern Hillel community celebrates release of Israeli hostages from Hamas with song and prayer
— Middle East Studies Association condemns Northwestern administration for mandating bias training
