Sara Coodin Named AJC Director of Academic Affairs

Sara Coodin has been appointed Director of Academic Affairs at the American Jewish Committee (AJC). This new position will enhance and expand the leading global Jewish advocacy organization’s engagement with university administrators regarding the conditions for Jewish students.

“We are thrilled to have Dr. Coodin joining AJC as our new Director of Academic Affairs. Sara’s scholarship on the history of antisemitism and her rich understanding of the ways it plays out on university campuses today will make her a trusted partner for university administrators,” said Laura Shaw Frank, Director of AJC’s William Petschek Contemporary Jewish Life Department.

AJC has long engaged students, faculty, and administrators on campuses across the United States as they confront antisemitism, BDS, and anti-Israel bias affecting Jewish students and Israel. “As the atmosphere on some campuses has become more complicated for Jewish students, university administrators are increasingly challenged to respond to incidents of antisemitism on their campuses and to take steps to prevent all forms of hate targeting Jews,” said Shaw Frank.

50% of American Jews say antisemitism on college campuses increased in the past five years, and 54% think anti-Israel campaigns, such as the BDS movement, are a problem for Jewish college students in the United States, according to a survey of U.S. Jews in AJC’s 2021 State of Antisemitism in America Report.

“I’m honored to be taking on such important and timely work,” said Coodin. “Antisemitism on college campuses has unfortunately become increasingly complex. I’m looking forward to generating new and productive ways of addressing and combatting this insidious hatred.”

Before joining the AJC staff, Coodin was a tenured professor at the University of Oklahoma. Her scholarship focuses on the genealogy of antisemitic tropes, including early modern Christian supersessionism, which formed the subject of her 2017 book, Is Shylock Jewish? Coodin obtained her Ph.D. in English Literature at McGill University.