Harvard's Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias final report directly references Project Shema's work across multiple schools to educate staff, students, and faculty
CHICAGO, IL / ACCESS Newswire / June 10, 2025 / A report from Harvard University released in April cites Project Shema, as well as the organization's training sessions and workshops, as a key component of the university's ongoing efforts to combat antisemitism. Project Shema has been providing educational resources and running workshops at Harvard throughout the last academic year, with more programs being scheduled to meet requests for deeper engagement and support.
The efforts are already bearing fruit, with Project Shema reporting significant increases in understanding in a range of areas. According to workshop surveys, participants signaled a greater understanding of Jewish identity (20% agreeing pre-workshop to 70% post-workshop), significant improvement in people's understanding of how antisemitism works (27% agreeing pre-workshop to 71% post-workshop), an increased understanding of how anti-Jewish ideas can show up in discourse around Israel and Palestine (27% pre-workshop to 70% post-workshop), and increased willingness to intervene when anti-Jewish ideas are present (28% agreeing pre-workshop to 74% post-workshop). On a scale of 0 to 10, participants also indicated a high willingness to recommend these workshops, with an average score of 8.6, signaling appreciation for how Project Shema approaches these issues with care and intentionality.
"We're deeply grateful for the nuanced, thoughtful, compassionate conversations across campus during our various programs," said Oren Jacobson, CEO at Project Shema. "There's certainly a lot more work to be done to address the challenges on campus, and at many other institutions across the country, but we're committed to partnering with those who are willing to do the work. There's clearly a deep desire for depolarized spaces to explore these difficult topics. These conversations are essential for expanding empathy and understanding across differences."
Project Shema provided training and resources to several Harvard schools, including the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard Chan School), and Harvard College. Project Shema also partnered with a Muslim-run organization to provide joint sessions on Islamophobia, and anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism, alongside Project Shema's antisemitism overview. Project Shema provides resources to a range of civic, educational, and corporate partners; its focus is on adding nuance to charged conversations and fostering empathy among participants and those they interact with.
The full Harvard report, released April 29, 2025 and entitled Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias, can be found here: https://www.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/FINAL-Harvard-ASAIB-Report-4.29.25.pdf
About Project Shema
Project Shema is a training and support organization focused on addressing contemporary antisemitism with an emphasis on how anti-Jewish ideas and implicit biases can be carried alongside conversations about Israel and Palestine. The organization's programs focus on depolarizing difficult conversations around anti-Jewish harm to strengthen allyship for and within the Jewish community. https://www.projectshema.org/
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SOURCE: Project Shema
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