Antisemitism Officer
The Antisemitism Officer is available to all members of the University—students and employees, Jewish and non-Jewish—as a point of contact. He also advises the Executive Board on strategic and acute issues relating to antisemitism. With his support, antisemitism in any form should be recognized, named and effectively addressed at an early stage so that Jewish students and employees feel safe and respected at the University of Jena.
Prof. Dr Thomas Kessler is Antisemitism Officer of the University of Jena.
Image: Anne Günther (University of Jena)Academic background
Thomas Kessler studied psychology at the University of Osnabrück and completed his doctorate at the University of Münster. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Friedrich Schiller University, habilitated in 2005 on the topic of ?The feeling of injustice? and received his first offer of professorship at the University of Exeter, UK, in 2007. He has held the Professorship of Social Psychology at Friedrich Schiller University Jena since 2010.
Research interests
Thomas Kessler has proven expertise in dealing with authoritarianism, prejudice, social discrimination and other aspects of group-based misanthropy. In his research, he deals with processes within and between social groups, focussing on topics such as prejudice, social discrimination and punishment, authoritarianism and political-ideological orientation, as well as group formation and the influence of social norms on attitudes, coordination and cooperation.