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Dr. Judith S. Goldstein received a Bachelors degree from Cornell University in 1962 with a concentration on European and American history. As a Woodrow Wilson Scholar at Columbia University, she then studied for a Masters degree in European history and wrote her thesis on the “Mouvement Republicain Populaire and the Franco Vietnamese War, 1946 1954.” In 1972, Judith completed her doctoral studies at Columbia University after writing her dissertation on “The Politics of Ethnic Pressure: The American Jewish Committee Fight Against Immigration Restriction: 1906-1917.” This work was the beginning of a sustained concentration on immigration and diversity in America and Europe. She then continued to work at Columbia University over 10 years by focusing on an oral history project on Ethnic Groups and American Foreign Policy. In the late 1980s, she began to write a book on the integration of Jewish immigrants in Maine which William Morrow published in 1992. Subsequently, she worked as the Executive Director of Thanks To Scandinavia, started by the Danish pianist Victor Borge to acknowledge Scandinavians who resisted Nazism and protected Jews during the Second World War. In 1997, Judith founded Humanity in Action and began to serve as its Executive Director. She also has an abiding interest in conservation and landscape design and history, especially as it relates to Maine and Mt. Desert Island.
Updated April 2020
More from Judith Goldstein
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"Conscience and Courage" - Judith Goldstein to moderate "Virtual Public Policy Forum" at Frances Perkins Center
On April 25, 2021, Executive Director of Humanity in Action Judith Goldstein will moderate "Conscience and Courage: Frances Perkins and Dr. Feng Shan Ho - Little Known Heroes Who Save Lives" as part of the Frances Perkins Center's virtual Public Policy Forum: Immigration/Refugee Policy.
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Humanity in Action's Voices in the Void selected for AmDocs Film Festival
We are thrilled to announce that our animated short film "Voices in the Void" is an official selection for the esteemed American Documentary and Animation Film Festival. The 10th Annual AmDocs Film Fest will take place from March 26-April 4th.
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Alfred Landecker Democracy Fellows Discuss Protecting Democracy After Attack on US Capitol
Landecker Fellows gathered to debrief the violent January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol and the implications this assault has had on the future of democracy--an assault fueled by conspiracy theories and former US President Donald Trump himself. From there, they deliberated on how we can depolarize our communities and call civil society into action in order to protect and strengthen democratic societies.
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What Do We Do Tomorrow? with Judith Goldstein
As Americans make their way to the polls this week, Hannah Sung speaks with HIA's Judith Goldstein. In the midst of a contentious election, Sung and Goldstein explore our attitudes towards participation and learning when it comes to voting, and give you ideas for what civic engagement can look like.
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Benefit celebrating three eminent women on Oct. 22nd, 2020, 6:30-8pm
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Reflections on COVID-19
Clarity, I believe, gives strength. Hope is energizing. Engaging in common civic pursuit is emboldening. Voting is resistance. Resisting is what will restore our health.
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Populism, Nationalism, AND Racism
I want to maintain—or even insist—that racism or conceptions based on racial attitudes and classifications are critical to understanding nationalism and populism from the 19th Century right into our bewildering and bewitched 21st Century.
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The Truth of the Future: Reflections on Antisemitism
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Judith Goldstein speaks with Nelson-Atkins Museum Director at the Champlain Institute
Founder and Executive Director Judith Goldstein speaks at the Champlain Institute: “Art: Dissent and Democracy”
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Humanity in Action Screens New Film "On the Values of Humanity in Action"
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How to Fix Democracy Washington Symposium
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Reflections on Social Cohesion/Social Coercion
Israel, Germany and the US are facing deeply divisive issues of national identity—and nationalism, often in its extreme incarnation—that derive from diverse populations and their leaders—issues that involve race, religion and national boundaries and histories.
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Pre-Genocide - Warnings and Readiness to Protect
An anthology of personal interpretations, by researchers and writers, about alarm bells and the readiness to protect prior to genocides. The essays in this volume focus on the 1930s before the Holocaust in Germany, Poland, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark - as well as the years before the genocides in Armenia, Cambodia, Kurdistan, Rwanda and Bosnia.
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The Danish Exception
The rescue of Danish Jews in October 1943 to Sweden has served as the inspiration for the inception of Humanity in Action. Judy Glickman Lauder’s photographs in Beyond the Shadows document the horrific sites of the Holocaust, while telling the uplifting story of the Danish Rescue. Founder and CEO Judith Goldstein contributed this written piece to that book.
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Interview Ai WeiWei
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On Migration: Historical Reflections for New Perspectives
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Shifting Paradigms: Humanity in Action Senior Fellows on Policy and Pluralism Across Borders
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Atlanta and Berlin: The Cross Currents of Racism and Restorative Justice
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Detroit: The Grand Experiment
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Transatlantic Perspectives on Diplomacy and Diversity
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The Presence of the Past: Confronting the Nazi State and Jim Crow
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Reflections on Humanity in Action
Almost 16 years ago, a former French Resistance fighter, a Jew and immigrant in America, posed a perplexing question when we met for the first time for a serious conversation: how do we educate young people about the need to resist oppressive, authoritarian forces?
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Introduction to Humanity in Action: Collected Essays and Talks
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Preface to Civil Society and the Holocaust: International Perspectives on Resistance and Rescue
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Civil Society and the Holocaust: International Perspectives on Resistance and Rescue
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The Myth of Anne Frank
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Diplomacy and Diversity
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The Week Before the Election
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