Tensions have been running high at many universities around the world since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and the subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza. In the US, protests and solidarity events have been met with varied responses from university administrations. Some institutions are now facing federal investigation over incidents of alleged antisemitism and Islamophobia.

There’s been political fallout too: in early December, the president of the University of Pennsylvania stood down after coming under pressure following her answers to a hearing in Congress about antisemitism on campus.

In the first of two episodes exploring how the war is affecting life at universities, The Conversation Weekly podcast hears about what’s been happening at one American public college campus.

David Mednicoff says his department at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, tends to have the students who are “the most directly involved in issues around the Middle East, from different perspectives.” Mednicoff is........

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