In the Aftermath of the National Origins Act, 1924-1928

Class starts Jan 7 10:45am-12:00pm

Tuition: $360 | YIVO members: $270**

This is a live, online course held on Zoom. Enrollment will be capped at about 25 students. All course details (Zoom link, syllabus, handouts, recordings of class sessions, etc.) will be posted to Canvas. Students will be granted access to the class on Canvas after registering for the class here on the YIVO website. This class will be conducted in English, and any readings will be in English.

Instructor: Hasia Diner

1924 heralded a transformative moment in American and American Jewish history. In the passage of the National Origins Act, the U.S. Congress ended the open, free, and relatively unregulated influx of Europeans seeking to come to the United States and settle there. Jews, like so many other Europeans, had pinned their hope on America since 1820 as a place to find new homes and make a better living. The act left its mark on all European immigrant groups and hastened a process by which their children and grandchildren experienced a sped-up process of integration into American society.

This course, comprised of six sessions, examines some landmark moments in the half decade between the passage of the National Origins Act and the 1929 onset of the Great Depression. Each landmark—a few for each year under consideration—exemplifies something new, important, and transformative, shaping Jewish life in America.

Course Materials:
The instructor will provide all course materials digitally throughout the class on Canvas.

Questions? Read our 2025 Winter Program FAQ.

Hasia Diner is the Paul and Sylvia Steinberg Professor Emerita and Director of the Goldstein-Goren Center for American Jewish History at New York University. A prolific author, her book, Hungering for America: Italian, Irish, and Jewish Foodways in the Age of Migration (Harvard University Press) is now considered a classic in the field.

**Become a member today, starting at $54 for one year, and pay the member price for classes! You’ll save on tuition for this course and more on future classes and public programs tickets.