The Countering Antisemitism Lab (CAL) at the USC Shoah Foundation develops innovative, data-first interventions to halt the spread of antisemitic hatred and violence. Drawing on the power of the Visual History Archive’s survivor testimony, we merge cutting-edge digital technology with the insights of our expert staff to develop solutions that work. CAL is based on principles of prevention and concern for the victims and targets of antisemitism. All CAL’s work is subject to the highest ethical and methodological standards of scholarly research, and our data and findings will always be open and accessible.
This initiative is grounded in the work of tracking, understanding, and countering antisemitism and Holocaust distortion and denial that the USC Shoah Foundation's CEO, Dr. Robert J. Williams has undertaken for the past two decades. CAL’s inaugural director, Dr. Brian Hughes, helped to pioneer a public health approach to preventing hatred and targeted violence. His expertise in digital prevention and patterns of radicalization have helped to advise federal agencies and civil society.
Our Four Pillars
The Contemporary Antisemitism Collection
The Contemporary Antisemitism Collection adds new depths to the survivor and witness stories of the Visual History Archive by gathering stories of Jewish life and survival from 1945 to today. These testimonies e the history of Sephardic, Mizrahi, and Yemenite Jewish communities, Jews under communism, and Jews across the African continent, as well as survivors of terrorism and other violence, and the everyday experiences of antisemitism in the United States. Learn more about this project, and how you can contribute, here.
Countering Online Antisemitism
Antisemitism thrives online. But it doesn’t have to be this way. CAL’s online monitoring and analysis project tracks antisemitic discourse from the fringes to the mainstream, worldwide. As antisemitic narratives evolve, our prebunking campaigns are a proven-effective method for preventing their spread, while the Shoah Foundation’s archive of survivor testimony grounds the digital present in the lessons of history.
Training
CAL’s training pillar aims to reach continue the impactful work of the USC Shoah Foundation’s K-12 education programs through the university and beyond with objective, actionable lessons to recognize and reduce antisemitism. CAL will expand on the Shoah Foundation’s Student Leadership Program (SLP), bringing together USC honors students and deepening their understanding of the Holocaust and antisemitism’s ongoing impacts. Trainings outside the university will serve government, media, the legal profession, and private industry with objective, non-partisan insights into the changing face of antisemitism, its corrosive effects on our institutions, and concrete steps to address it.
Research
Countering antisemitism calls for new and innovative approaches to prevention. Our research division develops new methods of intervention to test and implement. This includes piloting new methods and elevating the work of scholars. We will continue to take groundbreaking research out of the academy and into the world, where it can make a difference.