W.W. Norton will publish historian Pamela Nadell’s new book Antisemitism, an American Tradition, on October 14, 2025. In this book, already acclaimed as “the book the world needs now,” Pamela Nadell chronicles the history of this hatred of Jews and Jewish communities from colonial days to the present. Pamela Nadell is the author of America’s Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to Today, winner of the 2019 National Jewish Book Award “Jewish Book of the Year.”
“Antisemitism and political violence are both part of the same problem,” said Pamela Nadell, a historian and director of the Jewish Studies program at American University, who is quoted in an article in Time. “There are so many moments where legitimate criticism of Israel crosses into antisemitism—opening the path for someone to shoot two people simply because he believes they are Jews.”
n her June 2025 Hadassah Magazine article, historian Pamela Nadell reflects on the rising tide of antisemitic violence in the U.S., from the murder of two young professionals outside Washington, D.C.’s Capital Jewish Museum to attacks on Jewish homes and demonstrators. These alarming incidents, she asks, may signal a turning point for American Jews.
On June 5, 2025, Pamela S. Nadell will participate in the “On the Front Lines: French-American Forum on Antisemitism” in Paris, sponsored by AJC and CRIF. She will lead a session titled “Two Different Societies, Two Different Approaches? Recognizing and Understanding Antisemitism on the Left and on the Right.”
As part of the symposium The End of an Era? Jews and Elite Universities on May 18th at the Center for Jewish History, historian Pamela S. Nadell will lead a key session, “Columbia and Harvard: The Exception or the Rule?” Drawing on her expertise in American Jewish history, Nadell will explore how these institutions have shaped Jewish academic life and whether today’s crises reflect new challenges or enduring patterns.
In this upcoming virtual conversation taking place on May 18, 2025, Pamela S. Nadell, Director of the Jewish Studies Program at American University, will join JRC member Daniel Greene to explore the persistence of antisemitism in American society. Drawing from her forthcoming book, Antisemitism, an American Tradition, Professor Nadell will trace the historical roots of antisemitic rhetoric and discrimination, connecting past patterns to the present-day rise in incidents across the country.
Pamela Nadell will be at Brandeis University on May 4, 2025 for the Celebration of Professor Jonathan Sarna’s Scholarship. Jonathan D. Sarna is University Professor and the Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University. Author or editor of more than thirty books on American Jewish history and life, his American Judaism: A History – recently published in a second edition — won six awards including the 2004 “Everett Jewish Book of the Year Award” from the Jewish Book Council.
Pamela Nadell is honored to participate in “Through Women’s Eyes: Antisemitism in America,” a Zoom conference hosted by the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism on April 8, 2025. This important event will explore the challenges of antisemitism in America through a women’s perspective, fostering dialogue and understanding.
The Contemporary Antisemitism Conference: London 2025, co-hosted by the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism (LCSCA) and the Comper Center, will explore global antisemitism in political, social, and cultural contexts. Keynote speaker Pamela Nadell will discuss her book Antisemitism, an American Tradition, shedding light on its history and persistence in the U.S.
Pamela S. Nadell will be a guest speaker at the Everett Jewish Life Center at the Chautauqua Institution from August 3–7, 2025, where she will discuss her acclaimed book America’s Jewish Women and her forthcoming work Antisemitism, an American Tradition. The program will explore the contributions of Jewish women to American history and examine the persistence of antisemitism in American society.
Join award-winning historian, American University Professor Pamela Nadell in conversation with Franklin Foer, author of The Atlantic’s “The Golden Age of American Jewry is Ending” to to discuss her new timely new book Antisemitsm, an American Tradition. Nadell explores the deep roots of antisemitism in the US from colonial times to the present and the powerful ways American Jews have resisted this hatred and bigotry.