Viral Harm, Contested Definitions: Antisemitism and the Politics of Listening
2025-11-12 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Royce Hall, 236
Hosted by the Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies, ISH postdoctoral fellow Dr. Kathryn Huether will present her talk Viral Harm, Contested Definitions: Antisemitism and the Politics of Listening, on November 12th at Royce Hall.
Dr. Huether’s talk will examine how antisemitism is transmitted and amplified through sound on contemporary social media platforms, situating this analysis within today’s contested debates over how antisemitism itself is defined. Moving beyond text-based definitions to examine music, ambient audio, and meme-driven clips, she will show how these sonic practices blur parody and hate, evade moderation systems, and circulate antisemitic affect through the viral logics of digital culture.
This talk is being hosted by the Alan Dr. Leve Center for Jewish Studies. To register, click here.

Compassion in Practice: Providing Water and Shelter in Gaza
2025-11-17 18:00 - 20:00
A Conversation with Seba Abudaqa and Tom Kellner, co-founders of Clean Shelter
This event will feature the work of Clean Shelter, a grassroots organization registered in Germany that delivers immediate relief to displaced communities in Gaza through essential sanitation and shelter solutions. Founded by Seba Abudaqa, a Palestinian from Gaza living between Munich and Cairo, and Tom Kellner, an Israeli based in Berlin, the organization focuses on concrete action on the ground, providing shelter, sanitation, and water. Since January 2024, Clean Shelter has established multiple IDP camps, installed water desalination units and constructed water infrastructure, and provided aid to more than 150,000 displaced people across Gaza.
Seba and Tom will speak about what brought them together and what motivates them in the midst of the overwhelming challenges of Gaza.
Register here.

Symposium on Sound and Hate
2026-04-10 10:00 - 16:00 | Schoenberg Music Building, Lani Hall
This half-day symposium at UCLA will examine the intersection of sound and hate, highlighting how auditory experiences can propagate, resist, and reflect social animosities. Bringing together diverse perspectives from sound studies and related fields, the event will deepen understanding of how sound influences, challenges, and shapes the dynamics of hate in society. The keynote address, “Sectarian Reckonings: The Politics of Voice and Song in Post-Authoritarian Syria,” will be delivered by Shayna M. Silverstein, Associate Professor in the Department of Performance Studies and faculty member of the Middle Eastern and North African Studies program at Northwestern University. Her talk explores public reckonings with sectarian violence in Syria from the 2010s conflict to the precarious present, offering guided listening to sonic practices—from chant and song to rock and livestream audio culture—that respond to sectarianized hate, violence, and animosity. Additional speakers include UCLA School of Music Associate Professor Jenny Johnson, UCLA Initiative to Study Hate (ISH) Research Manager Dr. Amalia Mora, and the symposium’s curator Dr. Kathryn Huether (ISH and Leve Center for Jewish Studies Postdoctoral Fellow-Antisemitism Studies).
