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(JNS) School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a prestigious art college located downtown in the Windy City, engages in “pervasive and severe antisemitic harassment and discrimination under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act,” according to a lawsuit that the Chicago and Newport Beach, Calif.-based law firm Much filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Dec. 22.
Shiran Canel, an art therapy master’s student, alleges that Chun-Shan (Sandie) Yi, an assistant professor at the school, assigned her and classmates an assignment in a course on “materials and media in art therapy” that required them to respond to images purportedly drawn by Palestinian children that depicted “Israeli soldiers engaged in brutal violence,” per Much.
“It also required the students to answer a second prompt about child sexual assault that involved artwork using Hebrew-language text bubbles (thereby suggesting the sex offenders were Israeli subjects),” per the firm. “The new final assignment gratuitously incorporated inflammatory content uniquely targeted at Canel in apparent retaliation for previous complaints she raised about persistent and severe antisemitism.”
Per the law firm, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago retracted the anti-Israel assignment “after receiving notice that Canel intended to file for a temporary restraining order in federal court to enjoin the school from assigning the offending material.”
But the professor “continued harassing Canel and retaliating against her,” Much stated. “The professor persisted in targeting Canel with discussions regarding the handling of upsetting material, changes to the course’s grading and rubric that would uniquely harm Canel’s grade, and the solicitation and acceptance of hostile and discriminatory feedback from classmates regarding Canel’s presentations.”
“Since the Hamas terror attack on October 7, Canel, who is Jewish and of Israeli origin, has faced constant harassment and discriminatory treatment, from both faculty and fellow students,” it added.
According to Much and screenshots posted on social media, a professor at the school wrote on social media in mid-October—shortly after Hamas terrorists brutally attacked Israel on Oct. 7—that “Israelis are pigs. Savages. Very very bad people. Irredeemable excrement. … May they all rot in hell.”
“Canel sent inquiries to multiple members of the faculty and administration seeking assurances that she was safe on campus,” per the law firm. “She received no response to her initial email or the two follow-ups she sent, and has still received no response—nearly two months later.”
The student also alleges that a professor at the school allowed a Muslim student to stop collaborating with her on an assignment “solely because Canel ‘denies the genocide so clearly taking place.’”
The assignment with the children’s drawings allegedly stated: “Sometimes we can also work with clients’ experiences/backgrounds that are ‘too close to home’ and we need to deal with our own complicated feelings, internalized racism/ ableism/ homophobia/ supremacy and countertransference, etc. Can you keep it professional and still empathize with clients even when the content of their art upsets or triggers you?”
“Canel is the only student in the class from Israel or the Palestinian territories. In other words, she is the only student for whom the images could be described as ‘too close to home,’” per the firm. “The other students did not receive a corresponding assignment asking them to respond to images that might ‘upset’ or ‘trigger’ them, such as drawings by Israeli children depicting Hamas’s genocidal violence against innocent Israelis.”
“I am determined to shed light on this issue, not just for me but for everyone who faces discrimination,” Canel stated. “I study art therapy, which is supposed to be about care. Hate of any form has no place in the classroom. I believe publicizing my story is crucial to raising awareness about the recent upsurge of antisemitic discrimination in higher education institutions and more broadly.”
The art school stated that it “strongly condemns antisemitism and any discrimination based on religion, nationality, or any other aspect of a person’s identity. We have policies in place that prohibit discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, and the school is unequivocally committed to providing a safe and welcoming learning environment for all of our students, faculty and staff.”
JNS sought further comment from the school.
