Jewish Inclusion in Ethnic Studies Education: Issues, Obstacles, and Excuses

The function of ethnic studies education in K-12 schools remains a deeply contentious issue within the U.S. Often based on university ethnic studies courses, its focus on the lived experiences of Black, Latino, Indigenous, and Asian/Pacific Islander communities is predictably the target of much conservative commentary, leaving its disregard for the lives of American Jews underexplored. Focusing on how this absence correlates with the rising spate of antisemitism within the U.S., Jewish Inclusion in Ethnic Studies Education provides a clarifying re-examination of the current issues and oversights affecting ethnic studies teaching. In doing so, Daniel Ian Rubin illuminates the possibilities a reformed ethnic studies program offers for eliminating antisemitism among the next generation.

Daniel Ian Rubin is Senior Lecturer of Education at the University of Derby in the United Kingdom. He has published extensively in the areas of antisemitism, ethnic studies in K-12 schools, social justice, and multiculturalism and diversity, in the context of both education and society. His recent publications include; The Jewish Struggle in the 21^st Century: Conflict, Positionality, and Multiculturalism (Brill, 2021); A Time of Covidiocy: Media, Politics, and Social Upheaval (Brill, 2021), and Multiculturalism, Dialectical Thought, & Social Justice Pedagogy: A Study from the Borderlands (Information Age Publishing, 2017).