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History of the Association for Jewish Studies The Association for Jewish Studies: A Brief History (PDF) Back issues of AJS Perspectives, from 1972-1995, are available on the Berman Jewish Policy Archive. More recent issues of AJS Perspectives, from 1999-present, are also available on the Berman Jewish Policy Archive. Copies of past conference programs, dating back to 1973, are now available on the Berman Jewish Policy Archive.
Mission The Association for Jewish Studies (AJS) was founded in 1969 by a small group of scholars seeking a forum for exploring methodological and pedagogical issues in the new field of Jewish Studies. Since its founding, the AJS has grown into the largest learned society and professional organization representing Jewish Studies scholars worldwide. As a constituent organization of the American Council of Learned Societies, the Association for Jewish Studies represents the field in the larger arena of the academic study of the humanities and social sciences in North America. The organization's primary mission is to promote, facilitate, and improve teaching and research in Jewish Studies at colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher learning. Its more than 1800 members are university faculty, graduate students, independent scholars, and museum and related professionals who represent the breadth of Jewish Studies scholarship. The organization's institutional members represent leading North American programs and departments in the field. The AJS's major programs and projects include an annual scholarly conference, featuring more than 150 sessions; a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, AJS Review, published by Cambridge University Press; a biannual magazine, AJS Perspectives, that explores methodological and pedagogical issues; Positions in Jewish Studies, the most comprehensive listing of Jewish Studies job opportunities; Resources in Jewish Studies, an online guide to Jewish Studies programs, grant opportunities, professional development resources, electronic research tools, and doctoral theses; the Jordan Schnitzer Book Awards, which recognize outstanding research in the field; the Legacy Heritage Jewish Studies Project, in cooperation with the Legacy Heritage Fund, in support of innovative public programming; and the new Berman Foundation Dissertation Fellowships. Membership in the association is open to individuals whose full-time vocation is teaching, research, or related endeavors in academic Jewish Studies; to other individuals whose intellectual concerns are related to the purposes of the association; and to graduate students concentrating in an area of Jewish Studies. Institutional membership is open to Jewish Studies programs and departments, foundations, and other institutions whose work supports the mission of the AJS.
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