Authoritarianism in America: Impacts on Democracy and the Jewish Community

What will authoritarianism look like in our time? What implications will it have for the Jewish community? Drs Dani Holtz & Craig Franson will chart the authoritarian impulse in American history, politics, culture, & law—from Founding-era conspiracies about vaccines & political insurrection to contemporary hate-campaigns by Christian nationalists & techno-fascist trolls. Over six weekly online class sessions, this course will reveal the technologies that aspiring authoritarians are already using to realize their anti-democratic dreams. It will also consider some strategies of antifascist opposition & pluralistic world-building.

This online class is led by Drs. Dani Holtz and Craig Franson. It meets on Thursdays from 7:00-8:30 p.m. starting January 16th and ending February 20th. Register to join us.

The Center for Adult Jewish Learning at Temple Israel of Boston follows a "Pay What You Can" model for registration, with three pricing levels available. We also offer scholarships. Contact cajl@tisrael.org with questions.

Dani Holtz is a historian of U.S. politics, Christian nationalism, and the American right. They received their Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania (2017) and are finishing a book on US conservatism before the Civil War. They edited the award-winning Oxford Encyclopedia Of American Military And Diplomatic History, and have published in The Washington Post. Dani has a background in curricular development and recently created an interdisciplinary civic-education curriculum for Oregon State University. For the past four years, they have built a political consulting business with their partner focused on civic engagement and fostering democratic practice. Together, they host a biweekly open-access discussion online about the state of American politics and a podcast about the culture wars called American Id.


Craig Franson, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of English at La Salle University in Philadelphia, where he specializes in British Romanticism and the politics of literature and popular culture. A former Director of University Writing, he has decades of experience in program development and administration, curricular design, faculty training, and assessment. He also consults on democratic education, critical pedagogies, far-right threats, and antiracism initiatives. He is currently working on a book on the right-wing readership of J. R. R. Tolkien.