March 2, 2021
Historian and Cornell alumnus Josef Konvitz 67 will explore and compare trends in tolerance in France and the United States in a digital talk on March 15 at 5:30 p.m. EST. Registration is required.
Konvitz, a former professor at Michigan State University and diplomat with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, will focus on questions of interfaith relations and public leadership that transcend national borders. While Americans see France as a country with a high level of anti-Semitism, the French are disturbed by the influence of religion on American policy, Konvitz said.
Josef Konvitz
“A majority of the French do not belong to any religion; in the United States, the number of the ‘nones’ is much lower, at 16%. These phenomena have made France more tolerant, as borne out by surveys since 2000, but have had the opposite effect in the United States, contributing to polarization, segregation and extremism,” Konvitz said.
Historian Josef Konvitz ’67 will explore and compare trends in tolerance in France and the United States in a digital talk on March 15, focusing on questions of interfaith relations and public leadership that transcend national borders.