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Professor David Feldman appointed Vice-Chair of independent inquiry into antisemitism and racism

Professor David Feldman, Professor of History at Birkbeck, has been appointed Vice-Chair of an independent inquiry into antisemitism and racism in the Labour Party.

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Professor David Feldman, Professor of History at Birkbeck, has been appointed Vice-Chair of an independent inquiry into antisemitism and racism in the Labour Party.

A Fellow and former Council member of the Royal Historical Society, as well as a member of the scientific (research) committee of the Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration, Paris, Professor Feldman is recognised as an international authority on both antisemitism and racism.

His historical research has focused on minorities in British society in both the past and the present; he is also a member of the editorial advisory board for the journal Immigrants and Minorities.

In the context of contributing to public policy, Professor Feldman’s previous appointments include:

  • Academic advisor to the Pears Institute/COMPAS policy report, which he co-edited along with Dr Ben Gidley, Integration, Disadvantage and Extremism (2014)
  • Author of a report commissioned by the All Party Parliamentary Group against Antisemitism on antisemitic discourse, published in 2015;
  • Academic advisor to the pan-European research project on contemporary European Jewry and antisemitism commissioned by European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
  • Advisor to the Board of Deputies of British Jews in 2007, as part of a commission to write a history of the Board for its 250th anniversary.

In addition, Professor Feldman is currently leading a pan-European research project into ‘Immigration, Antisemitism and Toleration in Western Europe Today’, involving research in the UK, France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.

Professor Feldman was appointed Director of the Pears Institute for the study of Antisemitism at Birkbeck in July 2010. The Institute has an international reputation for the study of antisemitism, being the only centre in the UK – and one of just two in Europe – whose mission is to promote the understanding of antisemitism through research, teaching and contributing to public policy on the issue.

As well as forming a centre for research excellence to promote new thinking on the study of antisemitism within academia and public policy, the Institute draws on this excellence as a hub for teaching at Birkbeck on antisemitism and racism, integrated into the College’s undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees.

The Institute also aims to educate and engage with the public on antisemitism through events, lectures and exhibitions, most recently Blood: Uniting and Dividing, at the Jewish Museum in London.

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