Event Time: 
Tuesday, April 8, 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Wednesday, April 9, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

The conference “Antiscience and Antisemitism: An Alarming Convergence,” organized by Dean Peter Hotez of Baylor College of Medicine and Professor Matthias Henze of Rice University, will be hosted by the Holocaust Museum Houston. It examines the junction of two accelerating and alarming trends of the 2020s, Antiscience and Antisemitism. Antiscience activism now manifests as climate denialism and coordinated efforts to discredit life-saving public health interventions such as vaccines, immunizations, and other interventions. The full expression of science denialism occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and now targets prominent American scientists. Antisemitism is also on the rise, as documented by the ADL and other groups.  

The conference explores the current and historical overlap between antiscience and antisemitism. Such an investigation reveals a 500-year history that began during the Black Death in Europe, targeted prominent Jewish scientists in Weimar Germany and Stalinist Russia, and that continues to the present through attacks on scientists working to slow or halt pandemics and climate change. The conference will feature 8 preeminent academics in the Sciences and the Humanities.