Distinguished Visiting Fellow Sara Lipton delivers a public lecture on ‘How Images Can Make Us Hate: Lessons from Medieval Anti-Semitic Art’
Can pictures make people hate? With a marked increase in hate crimes in the U.S., the U.K., and much of Europe, often driven by visually-oriented social media and political propaganda, this question has taken on considerable urgency. In this talk, I offer an overview of the evolution and effects of medieval anti-Jewish art, in order to explore the mechanisms and impact of political imagery. I argue that powerful images, to an even greater degree than strong words, can arouse and redirect emotions and biases in unintended ways, sometimes to calamitous effect.
Location: Arts Two Lecture Theatre, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End, London E1 4NS