I. Letter from Program Chair

Dear Colleagues:

As Vice President for Program, I am delighted to issue the Call for Papers for the 43rd Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies, to be held December 18-20, 2011. We will convene at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, DC. We welcome proposals for panels, seminars, roundtables, meetings, individual papers, and alternative media presentations. Please note new instructions below for the roundtable format. The deadline for submission of proposals is Thursday, May 5, 2011. All proposals must be submitted electronically via the AJS website. This site will be available for submissions from Monday, March 21, 2011 through Thursday, May 5, 2011. As part of the submission process, you will be asked to select the division, or subject area, in which you would like your proposal considered. Your proposal will then be forwarded to the appropriate Division Coordinator. You will find detailed instructions for submission below. You will also find more detailed information about the conference (FAQs, travel information, the proposal evaluation process) on the AJS website. If you have any questions about the program that are not covered in this Call for Papers, please feel free to be in touch with me. Our Executive Director, Rona Sheramy (ajs@ajs.cjh.org), will be happy to respond to any questions regarding membership, payment, and other organizational matters.

The AJS has arranged for extraordinary rates at the Grand Hyatt and is currently raising funds to offer an extensive Conference Travel Grant Program. Please check the AJS website regularly for up to date information to assist you in your travel plans.

I am looking forward to an exciting and intellectually stimulating conference in Washington.

Sincerely,
Derek Penslar (derek.penslar@utoronto.ca)
Vice President for Program

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II. Instructions for Submitting a Proposal

A. General Considerations

We invite proposals for focused analyses of themes, topics, problems, or issues arising from scholarly research. There are two ways to submit a proposal: as part of a pre-formed session (panel, roundtable, meeting, seminar) or individually (to be placed in a panel by the Division Coordinator or, if a poster or media presentation, in the Digital Media and Poster Session). Priority in acceptance will be given to high-quality proposals that are submitted as part of pre-organized sessions. The next order of priority will be given to individual paper or poster/media proposals that are submitted independently. AJS members who are interested in organizing a session, or joining a session that others are forming, should post announcements to the Sessions Seeking Participants page on the AJS website.

A list of suggested themes and topics for select subject areas appears in Part IX, under the heading “Division Coordinators and Suggested Themes.” Prospective presenters and session organizers are encouraged to consider these suggestions in crafting their proposals. The Program Committee strongly encourages session organizers to create institutionally diverse panels (i.e., no more than two participants from the same institution) as well as sessions that include at least one senior scholar in a presentation role (i.e., no all student panels); graduate students organizing sessions should invite at least one senior scholar to present in their session, as well as ask senior scholars to serve as session chair and/or respondent. For further information, see section “Graduate Student Presentations.”

B. Do's and Don'ts

Paper and session proposals that will not be considered for presentation include: papers that have been published or presented in whole or in part elsewhere and sessions that summarize the proceedings of another conference. Sessions may not be devoted solely to  a recently published book, although sessions may be structured around the arguments and methods of major and recent scholarly works.   In order to give as many members as possible the opportunity to participate in the conference, no one may submit or present more than one paper, nor chair the session in which they are presenting. Likewise, scholars should not agree to serve as chair, respondent, or discussant in more than one session. Individuals may, however, serve on up to three sessions in three different capacities (e.g., present a paper in one panel, chair another, etc.).

C. Session Sponsorship

Session organizers may request to have an academic institution, research center/archive, learned society, or AJS caucus or working group listed in the program book as the sponsor of their session (e.g., if the institution has provided funding for the research being presented, is subsidizing the participation of presenters, etc.).  Magazines, journals, websites, foundations, and other non-academic organizations/publications will not be listed as sponsors in the conference program book.

D. Session Formats

Panels. In the traditional panel format, three or four participants present papers of a maximum of 20 minutes in length. Alternatively, panels may also consist of three papers and a respondent. A question and answer period generally will follow all of the papers, but an 8–10 minute question and answer period may follow each paper at the session chair’s discretion. All panel proposals must include a chairperson (who may also serve as respondent); paper presenters may not chair the session in which they are presenting. In composing your abstract please bear in mind the time allotted for your presentation. Those submitting panel proposals are asked to submit a session abstract that describes the overall questions and goals of the session, as well as abstracts for each paper to be included in the session. Sample abstracts can be found on the AJS website.

Seminars. Seminars are built around discussion of a single paper or group of papers distributed in advance, or of a major work in a field read in advance. Paper authors will usually begin the session with comments about their work, followed by responses from prepared discussants and discussion with the audience. All seminar proposals must include a chairperson, discussant(s), as well as an abstract of the paper(s) to be discussed. Completed paper(s) must be available for posting on the AJS website by November 15, 2011.

Digital Media and Poster Session. The Digital Media and Poster Session provides an excellent opportunity for scholars to utilize electronic, digital, and visual displays to share their research, and to interact with scholars on an individual basis. Scholars working on topics that lend themselves to visual and electronic presentation (e.g. a poster, video presentation, or laptop display) are especially encouraged to utilize this format. The Digital Media and Poster Session can be particularly beneficial for those with works-in-progress, as it provides the opportunity for detailed feedback and one-on-one conversations. Media presentations will be on display throughout the day of Monday, December 19, and presenters will be available during a special 2-hour session on Monday, December 19, to answer questions about their project. Digital Media and Poster presentation proposals will follow the format of those for other individual presentations, i.e.: a 350-word abstract describing the purpose of the presentation, its specific contribution to scholarship, and the usefulness of the proposed medium. Groups of scholars may also submit proposals for a thematic collection of posters (e.g., on a collaborative project). Click here for more information on the Digital Media and Poster Session.

Roundtables. Roundtables are structured discussions revolving around  pre-circulated  questions; the session consists of three to five discussants and a moderator, who takes a more active role in the session than a traditional panel chair. The roundtable is not a forum for the presentation of short papers; discussants should not read papers and should prepare no more than 3-5 minute responses to the questions being discussed.  The purpose of this format is discussion and interchange among a group of scholars about a debate, question, or issue in the field.  Participants will be seated in a semi-circle, and will speak to each other rather than from a podium.  The moderator will pose the questions and control the time given to each discussant to respond.

Those submitting a roundtable proposal must submit a session abstract that describes the overall goals of the session; the questions (usually three or four) that the discussants will address; and the perspective that each discussant will represent  (i.e., a two-three sentence description of each participant’s role, including that of the moderator). Roundtable proposals that do not adequately detail the session’s guiding questions, and each participant’s role/contribution will not be accepted. All roundtable proposals must include a moderator.

Meetings. A limited number of meetings or workshops grouped around a variety of purposes—for example, exploring issues in the field or discussing an ongoing project—are meant to provide a more informal setting for conversations. Such meetings, which usually take place during a breakfast or lunch time spot, might feature a short opening presentation, followed by attendee discussion. Members may contact the Vice President for Program (Derek Penlsar at derek.penslar@utoronto.ca) or AJS Executive Director (Rona Sheramy at ajs@ajs.cjh.org) to discuss ideas for such gatherings.

E.         Online Submission of Proposals

Submission. All proposals must be submitted online via the AJS website no later than Thursday, May 5, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. There are no exceptions to this procedure, and it applies to both individual paper proposals and full session proposals. You must use the self-contained, complete, and secure process directly linked to the AJS website. Proposals submitted by any other means or emailed directly to Division Coordinators will not be evaluated.

The first step in the submission process is payment of dues for the 2011–2012 membership year (September 1, 2011 to August 31, 2012) together with the appropriate conference registration fee via our online secure server. Please see the AJS website for other payment options. The AJS is unable to consider individual or session proposals submitted without these fees, and you will not be able to access the submission site, or have your name added to a session proposal, if you have not completed payment for these items. Detailed directions on the AJS website will guide you through the remainder of the process.

Divisions. In submitting your online proposal, you will need to identify the subject area division (see part IX, “Division Coordinators and Suggested Themes”) in which you choose to have your proposal considered. You may submit your proposal to one division only. However, Division Coordinators will work to place worthy proposals in more appropriate divisions if such proposals cannot be placed in the division to which they were submitted. Please contact Division Coordinators or the Vice President for Program with any preliminary questions regarding the best placement of your proposal.

Abstract. The core of the proposal is a 350-word abstract that is to be entered directly on the web. Please exercise great care in formulating and editing your abstract, following the University of Chicago Manual of Style or MLA Style Sheet guidelines. Sample abstracts are available on the AJS website. See sections below for specific information about abstracts for session and individual proposals. All abstracts of accepted proposals will be made available online. Submitters may not change the paper title or abstract after the submission deadline.

The abstract for each paper in a session, written by the individual scholar but submitted by the session organizer, should explain the presentation’s purpose, methodology, sources, argument and specific contribution to scholarship in the field. Session organizers should be aware that the Program Committee reserves the right to make adjustments to pre-arranged sessions (i.e., add or remove a paper, change the chair, discussant, or respondent position) in response to program needs. The Committee will make every effort to notify the session organizer regarding such changes.

Individual Proposals (Papers, Posters, and Digital Media Presentations). Those who are submitting a paper, poster, or digital media presentation proposal individually (not as part of pre-formed sessions) are required to submit a 350-word abstract, in addition to their contact information, payment information, division, and a.v. request. The abstract for an individual paper or poster should explain the presentation’s purpose, methodology, sources, argument and specific contribution to scholarship in the field. The Division Coordinators and the Program Committee will assign accepted proposals to a session.

Audio-Visual Equipment. The AJS is able to provide one of the following pieces of equipment per presenter: CD player, overhead projector (for transparencies), TV/DVD, and a limited number of LCD projectors. A maximum of two pieces of equipment will be provided to pre-formed sessions. The online proposal form will ask you to specify your audio-visual needs and to explain how the requested equipment will be used in your presentation or session. Given the high cost of audio-visual equipment rental (e.g., $800 for a LCD projector; $400 for a DVD player/monitor), the AJS cannot guarantee that all audio-visual requests will be accommodated. The best way to ensure accommodation of your request is to provide a detailed and compelling need for its use (e.g., why the material cannot be shared by handout). Outlines of talks or simple text displays do not constitute a compelling need. Those using LCD projectors must provide their own laptops. The AJS cannot accept audio-visual requests after May 5, 2011. Do not request a piece of equipment unless it is essential for your presentation; unnecessary equipment adds significantly to the cost of the conference and registration fees, and limits the resources the AJS can allocate to other conference programs (i.e., travel grants ).

Confirmation. You must complete the entire online sequence in order for the AJS office to receive your proposal. Confirmation of your proposal’s receipt will be sent to your email address (this is different from the email confirming online payment). If you do not receive the submission confirmation, your proposal may not have reached the AJS office. In this case, please follow up with the AJS office to confirm receipt. Please submit your proposal in a timely fashion as the website for submitting proposals will close at 5:00 p.m., on Thursday, May 5, 2011.

Notification. The AJS office will notify you of decisions by email in July. Other than the email acknowledgment at the end of the online proposal process, there will be no other acknowledgment of receipt before July. If your proposal is not accepted, the AJS will refund your conference registration fee upon request until October 31, 2011. Membership dues are not refundable.

F. Graduate Student Presentations

The AJS welcomes graduate students to submit proposals for papers, sessions, and poster presentations. In order to submit proposals, graduate students must meet the following criteria by the submission due date: 1) they must have completed their coursework and comprehensive/qualifying exams; 2) their dissertation prospectus must be approved; 3) they must be at the stage of writing their dissertation; and 4) the proposal must reflect their doctoral research. Graduate students must arrange for their primary advisor to submit an Advisor Evaluation Form available on the AJS website; this form must reach the AJS office by May 5, 2011. Graduate student proposals will not be evaluated if the AJS does not receive the Advisor Evaluation Form by the deadline. The Program Committee will not accept all-student sessions; graduate students organizing sessions should invite at least one senior scholar to present in their session, and ask a senior scholar to serve as session chair and/or respondent. Several special travel grants are available to graduate students on a competitive basis (see part VIII, “Travel Grants”).

G. Proposals from Scholars Outside of Jewish Studies

The AJS would appreciate your help in identifying scholars whose primary affiliations or fields do not lie within Jewish studies but whose work has a direct impact on Jewish studies and whose participation would enhance the annual meeting. The AJS welcomes proposals from such individuals. A reminder: in order to submit a proposal and present at the conference, scholars outside the field must be or become AJS members.

H. Session Chairs

The AJS seeks volunteers to serve as chairs of panels in their fields. If you are interested in serving as a session chair, please register yourself as a chair volunteer in the online conference submission site. You will be contacted should an appropriate spot be available. If you require a chair position for institutional funding, make sure to identify yourself as a volunteer by the submission deadline. Graduate students may not serve as session chairs. Further chair guidelines are available on the AJS website.

I. Sessions Seeking Participants

Session organizers seeking participants for their proposed panels, roundtables, meetings, or seminars may list their proposed session topics on the AJS website, along with their contact information.  Those interested in joining one of the sessions may contact the organizer directly about submitting a proposal.  For more information, go to www.ajsnet.org/session.htm.  The page includes instructions on how to submit a proposed topic and contact a session organizer.

J. The Evaluation Process

Your proposal will first be sent for review to the Division Coordinator, who is an expert in the field and has been appointed by the Vice-President for Program. Division Coordinators evaluate proposals, for both individual presentations and pre-formed panels, on the basis of several criteria, including contribution to the field, originality, methodology, and clarity of expression. If evaluating an individual proposal, they will recommend acceptance or rejection. If recommending acceptance, they will then try to place the proposal in a session with other individual submissions. Division Coordinators also evaluate session proposals and make recommendations for acceptance or rejection.

Division Coordinators then rank all the sessions (pre-formed and created) that it recommends accepting. The Program Committee, a multi-disciplinary panel of experts in Jewish studies, meet in early June to review the recommendations of Division Coordinators and make final decisions. The Program Committee takes into consideration topics covered by all the divisions, and limitations of time and space. Taking into account the entire gamut of proposed papers and sessions across divisions, the Program Committee attempts to find a place for papers that the Division Coordinators accepted but could not place. Accepted Individual papers that cannot be placed may be offered alternate forms of presentation, e.g., as a poster or electronic media presentation.

Please Note: The AJS office staff does not make acceptance/rejection decisions regarding proposals. Rather, the staff serves as the liason between the Program Committee and applicants regarding the status of their proposals, and ensures that all application requirements (e.g. payment of dues, fees, submission of Student Advisor Recommendation Form) have been met.

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III. Special Conference Events

A. Films

The AJS will screen a select number of short and feature-length films of interest to Jewish studies teachers and scholars, on Sunday, December 18 and Monday, December 20. If you would like to suggest a film for screening or submit a film for consideration, please contact the AJS at ajs@ajs.cjh.org.

B. AJS Honors its Authors

The AJS invites its members who have published books in Jewish studies and related fields in 2010 and 2011 to submit their book information for listing in a special brochure, to be shared with conference attendees at a coffee reception in honor of AJS authors on Monday, December 19, 2011. Authors, who must be AJS members, should submit the following information to conference@ajs.cjh.org by October 4, 2011:

1. Author name
2. Author Institutional Affiliation, if any
3. Book Title
4. Publisher
5. Month and Year of Publication
6. A high-resolution PDF of the book cover, if available

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IV. Pre-Registration, Badges, and Program Books

For presenters, chairs, discussants, and respondents, full payment of both membership dues and the advance conference registration fee is part of the submission process. Other attendees may pre-register until 5:00 p.m., November 15, 2011 via the AJS website. Thereafter registration will take place on-site at the Grand Hyatt Washington. Attendees must display badges at all times for admission to conference sessions and the book exhibit. Program books will be distributed on site at the conference hotel to all participants. A downloadable pdf of the program book will be available on the AJS website in early November. Those wishing to have the program book mailed to them first-class in advance of the conference may order one for $10.00 on the AJS website.

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V. Hotel, Meals, Travel, and Childcare

The Grand Hyatt Washington located at 1000 H Street NW in Washington, DC, has extended the AJS an extraordinary rate of $129.00 per room, single and double occupancy, not including taxes, with a limited number of rooms for students at $119.00. Reservations can be made by calling the Hyatt reservations line 1-800-233-1234; please ask for the Association for Jewish Studies rate. To make reservations online, please click here for the AJS rate. Students only: please click here for the student room rate.

Kosher meals will be catered by the Grand Hyatt, under the supervision of  the Rabbinical Council of Greater Washington. We look forward to having many attendees dining together throughout the conference, and especially at the Gala Banquet on Sunday, December 18, 2011. All meal reservations must be made by November 15, 2011.

The Parents Childcare Co-op will be organizing affordable childcare during conference meeting hours. The program is sponsored by the Center for Cultural Judaism. Pre-registration is required. Please contact Professor Andrea Lieber (717-245-1482; lieber@dickinson.edu) if you have any questions. Please note: the Parents Childcare Co-op is an independent initiative and is not sponsored by nor affiliated with the Association for Jewish Studies. The Association for Jewish Studies assumes no liability for use of these services.

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VI. Cancellation Policy

Once a paper or session is submitted, it is expected that the author(s) will present their paper if accepted. Participation in the conference is highly competitive, and a cancelled presentation wastes a spot that could have accommodated another scholar. As a courtesy to AJS members, conference presenters, and attendees, the AJS strongly discourages presenters from canceling their participation in the conference. Please notify the AJS directly if you are scheduled to participate in the conference program in any capacity and need to cancel. No-shows (those who cancel without prior notification) will not be allowed to submit a proposal for the 2012 conference.

The refund policy is as follows: For program participants (chairs, presenters, discussants, etc.): requests for refunds of conference registration fees and meal payments must be received by September 15, 2011. No refunds will be issued after that date. For non-participants, requests for refunds of conference registration fees and meal payments must be received by October 31, 2011. No refunds will be issued after that date. All refunds will be charged a $20.00 processing fee ($10.00 for students), with the exception of refunds requested by those whose papers were not accepted. Membership dues are not refundable.

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VII. Conference Standards

In order to maintain a professional and comfortable environment for its members, conference registrants, and staff, the Association requires certain standards of behavior. These standards include, without limitation, courtesy of discourse, respect for the diversity of AJS members and conference attendees, and the ability to conduct business and participate in the AJS conference in a non-threatening, collegial atmosphere. AJS members and conference participants who do not uphold these standards may jeopardize their membership or conference participation.

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VIII. Travel Grants and Awards

The AJS is committed to supporting wide participation in the conference. In particular, the AJS seeks to support untenured faculty, graduate students, unemployed scholars, and scholars from Eastern Europe who receive little to no institutional support for conference travel. Below please find information about travel grant opportunities. Click here for the common application form, due Wednesday, September 28, 2011. If you wish to contribute to the AJS Conference Travel Grant Fund, please click here.

A. Travel Grants for Faculty, Graduate Students, and Independent Scholars

1. AJS Graduate Student Travel Grants. The AJS will offer a limited number of travel grants to graduate students presenting papers, digital media presentations, or posters at the conference. Priority will go to graduate students receiving little to no institutional support for conference travel. Grant recipients may be awarded up to $400 in travel support. Click here for the common application form, due Wednesday, September 28, 2011.

2. Center for Jewish History Travel Grants. Center for Jewish History Travel Grants, awarded on a competitive basis, will fund travel stipends up to $500 to scholars presenting work based upon research conducted at the Center for Jewish History in Manhattan. Only scholars who have been accepted to present a paper or poster, or serve as a discussant or respondent, and who receive little to no institutional support for conference travel are eligible to apply. Priority will go to untenured faculty (tenure-track or adjunct), independent scholars without full-time employment, and graduate students; next in priority are tenured faculty and retired faculty. Click here for the common application form, due Wednesday, September 28, 2011. Applicants will be notified by late October. Funded by the Center for Jewish History, a partnership of the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Sephardi Federation, the Leo Baeck Institute, the Yeshiva University Museum, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

3. Eastern European Scholar Travel Grants. The AJS will offer a limited number of travel grants to Jewish studies scholars at Eastern European institutions. Grant recipients must be full-time professors or scholars at an Eastern European university or research institute, whose scholarship focuses on an area of Jewish studies. Application deadline: May 5, 2011. Click here for the application form, due May 5, 2011.

4. Maurice Amado Foundation Travel Grants. Maurice Amado Foundation Travel Grants, awarded on a competitive basis, will fund travel stipends up to $500 to scholars presenting research on Sephardic studies at the AJS Conference. Only scholars who have been accepted to present a paper or poster, or serve as a discussant or respondent, and who receive little to no institutional support for conference travel are eligible to apply. Priority will go to untenured faculty (tenure-track or adjunct), independent scholars without full-time employment, and graduate students; next in priority are tenured faculty and retired faculty. Click here for the common application form, due Wednesday, September 28, 2011. Applicants will be notified by late October. Funded by the Maurice Amado Foundation.

5. Posen Foundation Travel Grants Posen Travel Grants, awarded on a competitive basis, will fund travel stipends up to $500 to scholars presenting research on secular Jewish history and cultures at the AJS Conference. Only scholars who have been accepted to present a paper or poster, or serve as a discussant or respondent, and who receive little to no institutional support for conference travel are eligible to apply. Priority will go to untenured faculty (tenure-track or adjunct), independent scholars without full-time employment, and graduate students; next in priority are tenured faculty and retired faculty. The common application form will be posted in early September and due by the end of the month.Click here for the common application form, due Wednesday, September 28, 2011. Funded by the Posen Foundation, which supports research on Jewish secularism and secularization.

6. Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation Travel Grants
Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation Travel Grants, awarded on a competitive basis, will fund travel stipends up to $500 to scholars presenting work on Israel Studies. Only scholars who have been accepted to present a paper or poster, or serve as respondent or discussant, and who receive little to no institutional support for conference travel are eligible to apply. Priority will go to untenured faculty (tenure-track or adjunct), independent scholars without full-time employment, and graduate students; next in priority are tenured faculty and retired faculty. Click here for the common application form, due Wednesday, September 28, 2011. Applicants will be notified by late October. Funded by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.

7. Lucius N. Littauer Foundation Travel Grants These travel grants will fund provide travel stipends up to $400 to untenured faculty (tenure-track or adjunct) and independent scholars without full-time employment whose proposals have been accepted for presentation and who do not have institutional travel support. Only scholars who have been accepted to present papers, digital media presentations, or posters at the conference, or serve as a discussant or respondent, and who receive little to no institutional support for conference travel are eligible to apply. Click here for the common application form, due Wednesday, September 28, 2011. Applicants will be notified by late October.

8. Rosalie Katchen Travel Grant sponsored by the HBI (Hadassah-Brandeis Institute)
The Rosalie Katchen Travel Grant is available to junior scholars presenting papers at the AJS annual meeting which deal with Jewish women and gender issues. Scholars who completed their dissertation within the past five years are invited to apply. Four travel grants of up to $250 each are awarded each year. Grants are paid to awardees following the AJS meeting. Grant Guidelines available on the HBI website: www.brandeis.edu/hbi/grants/kat_grant.html
Deadline: October 20, 2011

B. Other Travel Grants and Awards

1. AJS Women’s Caucus Travel Grant.  The AJS Women's Caucus awards travel grants to graduate students and independent scholars whose papers contribute to the study of women, feminism, and gender in Jewish studies and have been accepted for presentation at the 2011 conference. Graduate students in all areas of Jewish studies who have not previously received a Women's Caucus Travel Grant are encouraged to apply.  The travel grants can be applied towards any conference-related costs (hotel, conference registration, childcare costs, etc.).  The application consists of: the AJS abstract/paper proposal; a paragraph explicitly stating how the paper broadens the current understanding of Jews and gender; a copy of the letter of acceptance from the AJS; a CV; and a proposed budget that includes other potential sources of financial support. Application documents should be electronically submitted as email attachments by September 15, 2011 to Melissa Klapper, klapper@rowan.edu.   The Travel Grant Committee will notify applicants prior to the conference. Winners will also be announced at the Women's Caucus Breakfast, to which they are invited at no cost, and should therefore plan to attend.

2.  Prize for Innovative Scholarship in Gender and Jewish Studies. What is the next step for Jewish feminist and gender studies?  In what ways can recent theoretical trends in feminist, gender, and queer theory impact the various disciplines within Jewish studies? In recognition of the importance of these questions, the AJS Women's Caucus announces a prize for a paper presented at the AJS annual meeting within any discipline of Jewish studies that opens up new areas of inquiry or advances Jewish feminist or gender studies. The prize carries a cash award of $500. Papers must have been prepared especially for presentation at the 2011 AJS annual meeting. Papers should be submitted electronically in publishable form (with full citations and bibliography) by February 15, 2012. Submissions should be sent to caryn.aviv@colorado.edu.

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IX. Division Coordinators and Suggested Themes

From those listed below, please identify the subject area in which you wish to have your proposal considered. Note: Several divisions include suggested themes for exploration. These suggestions do not preclude proposals on other topics.

1. Bible and the History of Biblical Interpretation

Literature of the Bible; world of the Bible; early post-Biblical literature (Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls); interpretation of the Bible from antiquity to modern times. Sessions and papers related to any of these areas are welcomed.

Division Coordinator: Moshe Bernstein (Yeshiva University)
mjbrnstn@yu.edu | (212) 960-5302

2. Rabbinic Literature and Culture

Talmudic law and literature; Midrash; Rabbinic texts from the end of the Second Temple period up through the Geonim. Please note: this division is historically delineated. It recognizes that some proposals may touch on aspects of the Second Temple period and/or medieval Jewry, but submissions that focus primarily on the Second Temple period or the medieval era or later should be submitted to other divisions. Please contact the Division Coordinator for recommendations of appropriate placement.

2011 Suggested Themes:

1. Theorizing Borders and Boundaries (e.g., Jew/Gentile; Animal/Human; Female/Male; Rabbi/Non-Rabbi; Palestine/Babylonia; this world/next world)
2. Uses and Abuses of Inherited Texts (e.g., editorial strategies; midrashic methods; Mishnah/Tosefta and Yerushalmi/Bavli relationships; reworkings of biblical figures and episodes)
3. Exploring Rabbinic Genres (law; narrative and narrativity; story; ritual script; exegesis; halakhah; aggadah; talmudic dialectic; comparative genre analysis with non-rabbinic texts)
4. Constructions of Rabbinic Authority (rabbis vs. priests, kings, emperors, philosophers, ascetics, magicians; strategies of legitimization; legal authority; ritual authority; anxiety about authority)

3. Yiddish Studies

Yiddish literature and its history. Proposals for sessions conducted in Yiddish are welcome.

2011 Suggested Themes:

1. Popular Culture and/or Private Writings in Yiddish
2. Pre-Modern Yiddish Literature
3. Yiddish Linguistics
4. Yiddish Pedagogy Workshop
5. Yiddish Poetry and Prose

Division Coordinator: Kathryn Hellerstein (University of Pennsylvania)
khellers@sas.upenn.edu | (215) 898-7103

To join the listserve for the Yiddish Studies division, send an email to yiddish-ajs+subscribe@googlegroups.com.

4. Modern Jewish Literature and Culture

American Jewish literature; European Jewish literature; modern Sephardic literature; and their cultural contexts

2011 Suggested Themes:

1. Jewish Literature of/and Migration
2. Jewish Literature in and in Relation to "Mainstream" Literary Periods or Movements
3. Gender and Sexuality in Modern Jewish Literature
4. Women and Work in Modern Jewish Literature

Division Coordinator: Meri-Jane Rochelson (Florida International University)
rochelso@fiu.edu

To join the listserve for the Modern Jewish Literature and Culture division, send an email to modernlit-ajs+subscribe@googlegroups.com.

5. Modern Hebrew Literature

Hebrew literature from the Haskalah on, including contemporary Israeli literature

2011 Suggested Themes:

1. "Chick Lit": popular novels by female authors, intended for a female audience
2. Geographic Centers and Margins in Israeli Society
3. Travel Writing to 'Eretz-Yisrael:' From the Haskala to the Present
4. The Israeli Diaspora in Contemporary Hebrew Fiction

6. Medieval Jewish Philosophy

Jewish philosophy and its history in medieval and late medieval times.

2011 Suggested Themes:

1. The Moral and Religious Significance of Negative Theology
2. (The Limits of) Maimonidean Naturalism
3. Hasdai Crescas:  A Retrospective

Division Coordinator: Daniel Frank (Purdue University)
dfrank@purdue.edu | (765) 494-7564

To join the listserve for the Medieval Jewish Philosophy division, email Daniel Frank at dfrank@purdue.edu.

7. Jewish Mysticism

Literature, history, and phenomenology of Jewish mysticism in all periods

2011 Suggested Themes:

1. Is There an American School of Kabbalah Studies?
2. Sabbateanism and Its Discontents
3. Kabbalah and Ritual Studies
4. Kabbalah and Hasidism and Their Role in Comparative Religion

8. Modern Jewish Thought and Theology

Jewish philosophy and thought in modern times; modern Jewish religious movements

2011 Suggested Themes:

1. Aesthetics, the Body, and Desire in Modern Jewish Thought
2. Negative Theology
3. Revisiting Levinas (50th Anniversary of Levinas' Totality and Infinity)
4. Negotiating Religion and State in Modern Jewish Thought

Division Coordinator: Ken Koltun-Fromm (Haverford College)
kkoltunf@haverford.edu | (610) 896-1026

To join the list serve for the Modern Jewish Thought and Theology division, send an email to modernthought-ajs+subscribe@googlegroups.com.

9. Jewish History and Culture in Antiquity

History of the Jews and Judaism in the Persian, Greco-Roman, and Byzantine periods. This division particularly encourages submissions related to secular Jewish history in antiquity, encompassing such topics as agricultural or administrative histories, economics, including labor and trades, etc.

Division Coordinator: Seth Schwartz (Jewish Theological Seminary)
srs166@columbia.edu

10. Medieval and Early Modern Jewish History, Literature, and Culture

Jewish history in Muslim and Christian realms; Jewish literatures including but not limited to belles lettres, piyyut, and exegesis; medieval and early modern Jewish art, artifacts, and architecture.

1. Jews as Mediterranean Figures within or across Muslim and Christian Realms
2. Boundaries and Tensions between the Sacred and the Profane
3. Jewish Book Culture (patronage, consumption, reception)

Division Coordinator: Jonathan Decter (Brandeis University)
decter@brandeis.edu

11. Sephardi/Mizrahi Studies

The Sephardi/Mizrahi Studies division seeks submissions that are area specific and interdisciplinary on the history and culture of Sephardi and Mizrahi Jewry.

2011 Suggested Themes:

1. Integration of Sephardi/Mizrahi studies into Jewish Studies Curriculum
2. Literature and Textual Sources that Express Unique Experiences
3. Interaction with Local Non-Jewish and Ashkenazi Culture, i.e. colonialism
4. Sephardi/Mizrahi Community Experiences during the Holocaust
5. Creative Expression of Sephardi/Mizrahi Jewry
   

12. Modern Jewish History in Europe, Asia, Israel, and Other Communities

2011 Suggested Themes:

1. War and Peace
2. Jews and Violence
3. Jewish Occupational Structures

Division Coordinator: Jeffrey Veidlinger (Indiana University)
jveidlin@indiana.edu | (812) 856-6013

To join the list serve for the Modern Jewish History in Europe, Asia, Israel, and Other Communities division, send an email to modhist-world-ajs+subscribe@googlegroups.com.

13. Modern Jewish History in the Americas

This division seeks proposals that deal with some aspect of Jewish history in the Americas.

2011 Suggested Themes:

1. Comparative and/or Transnational Perspectives on American Jewish History
2. Explorations of Jewish Culture in the Americas (theater, literature, film, television, the arts, etc.)
3. Examinations of Gender and Jewish History in the Americas
4. Theoretical and Methodological Innovations in the Field, including New Approaches to Social, Economic, Ethnic, and Religious History.

Division Coordinator: Beth Wenger (University of Pennsylvania)
bwenger@sas.upenn.edu | (215) 898-5702

To join the list serve for the Modern Jewish History in the Americas division, send an email to modhist-am-ajs+subscribe@googlegroups.com.

14. Israel Studies

Multi- and interdisciplinary studies of Israeli society, culture, and politics

2011 Suggested Themes:

1. New Issues in Israeli Arts, Literature, Film and Music
2. Zionism and Its Critics, at Home and Abroad
3. Israel and the Diaspora: Competition and Collaboration
4. Cohesion and Division in Israeli Society
5. Comparative and/or Transnational Perspectives on Israeli History

15. Holocaust Studies

The Holocaust Division considers individual paper and organized panel proposals on any area of Holocaust studies.

2011 Suggested Themes:

1. Patterns of Jewish Leadership during the Holocaust
2. Religious Jewry during the Holocaust
3. The Holocaust and Jewish Historians 1945-2011
4. Patterns of Antisemitism in Europe 1933-1945

Division Coordinator: Samuel Kassow (Trinity College)
samuel.kassow@trincoll.edu | (860) 297-2390

16. Jews and the Arts

Representation of Judaism and Jews in visual art, music, theater, and dance; the role of the arts in Jewish history and civilization. The following themes serve as suggestions and are to be interpreted broadly. Submissions need not be limited to these themes.

2011 Suggested Themes:

1. Jewish Performance
2. Institutions, Venues, Markets 
3. Jewish Art in Crisis
4. Jewish Music: Now and New
5. Jewish Iconoclasms and Iconoclasts (any period) 

Division Coordinator: Carol Zemel (York University)
czemel@yorku.ca | (416) 736-2100

To join the list serve for the Jews and the Arts division, send an email to
arts-ajs+subscribe@googlegroups.com.

17. Social Science, Anthropology, and Folklore

Sociology, anthropology, folklore, political science, and social psychology as applied to Jewish communities.

2011 Suggested Themes:

1. Conversion to Judaism in Israel and Diaspora
2. Jewish Social Research and Jewish Communal Policy
3. Constructing Demography: Cultural Foundations of Jewish Social Research
4. Jewish Behavior, Beliefs and Belonging in a Post-Everything World
5. American Jewish Popular Culture
6. Economics of Jewish Life 

Division Coordinator: Ted Sasson (Middlebury College/Brandeis University)
sasson@middlebury.edu | (802) 443-5304

To join the list serve for the Social Science, Anthropology, and Folklore division, send an email to socsci-ajs+subscribe@googlegroups.com.

18. Gender Studies

The Gender Studies division welcomes organized panels dealing with women or men, femininities and masculinities, in Jewish civilization and religion, specifically as these studies relate to issues of gender. Seminars, roundtables, and other innovative formats for sessions are particularly encouraged.

Division Coordinator: Chava Weissler (Lehigh University)
chava.weissler@lehigh.edu | (610) 868-6604

19. Linguistics, Semiotics, and Philology

Linguistic, semiotic, or philological studies of Hebrew, Yiddish, and other Jewish languages; language instruction in Hebrew, Yiddish, other Jewish languages.

2011 Suggested Themes:

1. Key Words in Jewish Languages
2. Yiddish and Hebrew in American Jewish Education and Identity
3. 19th-Century Hebrew Language Instruction
4. The Languages of “Mizrahi/Sephardi” Jews

Division Coordinator: Benjamin Hary (Emory University)
bhary@emory.edu | (404) 727-7942

To join the list serve for the Linguistics, Semiotics, and Philology division, send an email to linguistics-ajs+subscribe@googlegroups.com.

20. Special Topics, Interdisciplinary

For interdisciplinary and other areas. Proposals that address pedagogy are especially encouraged.

Division Coordinator: Andrea Most (University of Toronto)
andrea.most@utoronto.ca | (416) 946-0828

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X. Program Committee

Derek Penslar, University of Toronto, Chair
Yedida Eisenstat, Jewish Theological Seminary, student representative
Christine Hayes, Yale University
Judith Hauptman, Jewish Theological Seminary
Gershon Hundert, McGill University
Paula Hyman, Yale University
Shaul Kelner, Vanderbilt University
Pamela S. Nadell, American University
Wendy Zierler, HUC-JIR

Marsha Rozenblit, University of Maryland, ex officio
Rona Sheramy, AJS, ex officio

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XI. Important Dates and Deadlines

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