Michael Saenger, at The Blogs

Michael Saenger

Sep 21, 2024, 10:56 PM

We have a lot of antisemitism going around. For many Jews, it’s fairly easy to see. For those who hate Jews and Israel, it is easy to ignore. But for most people, it’s genuinely puzzling. What exactly is antisemitism,...

Apr 6, 2024, 4:39 PM

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Keeping the light on, in my campus office

We Jews are at risk, and hiding our identity won't make us much safer. Rather, we need to signal tangibly how proud we are to be Jewish

Feb 15, 2024, 7:31 PM

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MLA – Not just a style sheet (but maybe it should be)

It's bad when the Modern Language Association sides with the terrorists; it's worse when it shuts down their victims

Jan 8, 2024, 6:29 PM

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The decline and fall of the Modern Language Association

In passing a motion to support just one viewpoint on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the MLA chose to self-destruct

Oct 10, 2023, 8:20 PM

Before the War: Educators in Israel/Palestine

We have all been shaken to the core by the events of the past week. It already seems strange to think about a time before the war. The methodical and horrifying cruelty of Hamas is on full display, and...

Jun 29, 2023, 7:59 AM

The Moral Urgency of Whataboutism

"Whataboutism" is a word that has become very important in the conversation about Israel and Palestine, particularly in relation to the global movement to condemn Israel as a bad moral actor in relation to Palestinian lives. The word itself was...

Oct 12, 2021, 11:26 PM

The NFL, Israel, and Progressivism

James Brown was very good this morning talking about racism in the NFL. Basically, he said that the league is a microcosm of society, and that it should fire people, like Gruden, but that we should not just use...

Nov 14, 2020, 10:39 AM

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Texas saves Progressivism

Texas, the Lone Star State (Christine Kohler / iStock)

The left can learn plenty by looking at what Lone Star State voters don't hate: oil, religion, police, America – not to mention Zionism

Jun 15, 2020, 8:15 AM

2020 is a normal year

One of the most interesting things about Shakespeare is that his writings are so finely crafted that in a small quotation, one can often find distillations of tremendous range and importance. One quotation that might be useful for our...

Jun 3, 2020, 7:58 AM

Why Black Lives Matter for Jews

As tempers flare and tensions go up across the US, one of the most useful things we can do as Jews is reflect on how we can connect to the protests raging across the country in response to the...

About Me

Michael Saenger is Professor of English at Southwestern University and the author of two books and the editor of another. He has been a Finalist for the Southwestern Teaching Award, and he has given talks on cultural history in Europe, Israel and North America.