Legitimating Nazism: American Universities and the Third Reich

Speaker: Dr. Stephen Norwood Affiliation: History Department, University of Oklahoma Title: "Legitimating Nazism: American Universities and the Third Reich" Convener: Dr. Charles Asher Small, Founder and Executive Director, Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) Location: Yale University, New Haven, CT Date: February 24, 2011 Description: Dr. Stephen Norwood maintains that during the 1930s, American university campuses forged friendly ties with early Nazi party universities and in doing so helped enhance the Hitler regime’s prestige in the West. Many universities welcomed Nazi officials to campus and eagerly participated in Nazi propaganda. The Nazis believed universities to be critical in their efforts to disseminate propaganda, underlying the Nazi ideology which began by expelling Jews from faculty positions, burning books and ultimately ended in their desire to annihilate the Jewish people. Yet, as the Nazis continued to take steps to isolate and ostracize European Jewry, many leaders of American universities failed to take steps against the Nazi assault on academic freedom.