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AJS 42nd
Annual Conference The following session organizers are seeking participants for sessions (panels, roundtables, meetings, or seminars) to be proposed for the 42nd Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies. If you are interested in joining one of these session proposals, please contact the session organizer directly at the e-mail/phone number provided. If you would like to organize a session and wish to add your name to the below list, please send an e-mail to the AJS at ajs@ajs.cjh.org with the following information: your name and contact information (e-mail and/or phone number), a brief description of the session you wish to propose, and a brief description of the topics you would like participants to cover.
Shaul Kelner I would like to organize an interdisciplinary session entitled: Title: Jews, Judaism & the Environment Description: This session would address Jewish environmentalisms from an interdisciplinary perspective.
Jarrod Tanny I would like to organize a session titled: Title: Jewish Humor and Popular Entertainment across Languages and Continents Description: I am seeking participants who work on either Jewish humor or some aspect of popular entertainment that intersects with the genre. We welcome proposals from all disciplines and geographic regions. Please send a brief proposal to Jarrod Tanny, jmtanny@gmail.com.
Deena Grant Title: Chosenness in the Jewish Tradition Description: I am seeking papers on aspects of the Jewish perception of being chosen and/or possessing a distinct and unique relationship with God. Papers can address this topic as it occurs in biblical, rabbinic, medieval or modern writings, as well as its implications on interfaith dialogue. Please send a proposal to dgrant@mail.barry.edu
Josette Capriles Goldish Title: Latin American and Caribbean Jews in the United States Description: This session would include papers addressing various aspects of the Papers might include discussions of the social integration into Please send a brief proposal to jgoldish@brandeis.edu.
Helen Leneman I would like to propose a session on How Jewish Artists Interpret the Bible. I welcome papers covering different art forms: painting, sculpture, literature, drama, and music. I myself would be offering a paper on Bible Operas by Jewish Composers. The unifying theme is "art as modern midrash": what (if any) particularly Jewish orientation is reflected in these various artistic representations and retellings of a given biblical narrative.
Baruch Alster Description: This session will discuss medieval and modern Jewish Bible exegesis, using theories from contemporary hermeneutics, broadly defined to include literary theory, pragmatics, legal theory, social scientific theory, etc. My own paper discusses the recent development of such approaches in the study of parshanut, their theoretical underpinnings, and their advantages. I am looking for other participants to discuss how specific theories can contribute to the study of parshanut in general, or of specific parshanim in particular.
Paul (Hershl) Glasser Call for papers for a session on the teaching of Yiddish language in the 21st century, including a consideration of new and renewed textbooks, such as the planned revised edition of Uriel Weinreich’sCollege Yiddish, pedagogical methods, and contemporary media materials. Dr. Paul (Hershl) Glasser
Natan Meir, Portland State University I am seeking participants for either or both of the following sessions: 1. Jewish folk customs in the modern world Description: the session will address folk customs and rituals, however defined, and their interaction with modernity and its dynamics. I am especially interested in customs that claim to be of ancient lineage but that actually emerge in modernity. The session will not be geographically specific. 2. Roundtable: Teaching the Holocaust Description: the roundtable session will facilitate a conversation about effective pedagogical methods in teaching the Holocaust, especially using Web 2.0 and the internet.
Hannah Farmer Title: Philanthropy and the Construction of Jewish Masculinity Seeking participants for a panel addressing the ways in which philanthropy was used to construct a sense of Jewish masculinity, both for philanthropists and those to whom the philanthropy was directed. My paper will address the way in which the established Jewish community in late nineteenth century Chicago used philanthropy to construct a masculine identity, while a second paper will address the role played by female philanthropists in constructing the masculine ideal of the 'New Jew' in Britain. Papers addressing any geographic location or time period are welcome.
Aimee Israel-Pelletier
Jim Ross I'm trying to organize a session on Judaic Studies programs around the world and am seeking panelists from China, India, Germany, Poland and elsewhere. How is Jewish Studies taught outside the United States and Israel? What courses and degrees are offered? What kinds of research and scholarship are professors and graduate students engaged in? I am looking for participants who teach in other countries or have extensive experience teaching abroad. Please send your proposal to Jim Ross at j.ross@neu.edu.
Prof. Rachel Adelman (Miami University, Ohio) I am interested in organizing a panel on the theme of “women as subversive voice” in biblical and rabbinic texts. Papers may address the role of women in paths which subvert normative expectations or the Law (anti-nomianism). Studies may include Eve, the Daughters of Lot, the Book of Ruth, or the story of David and Bathsheba. The proposals along this theme are not restricted to an analysis of the biblical
Victoria Khiterer, Millersville University Title: Anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe after World War II Description: I would like to create a session on the rise of anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe after World War II. I would like to present a paper on the rise of anti-Semitism in Ukraine immediately after its liberation by the Soviet Army (1944-1947). If you would like to present a paper or be session chair or discussant please send me an email at vk@vkshalom.com
Ari and Tzofit Ofengenden Title: Psychoanalytical perspectives on Post and Neo-Zionism Description: We are looking for papers which analyze contemporary ideological changes in Zionism from a psychoanalytical perspective. Possible issues include: What has the challenge of post-Zionism meant for narcissism and enjoyment of the nation? How have normalcy, masochism and political fantasy articulated themselves a new in these new ideological currents?
Alexandra Cuffel Description: Imagining the Ten Lost Tribes in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods: I am looking for papers dealing with the ways in which Jews, Christians or Muslims imagined one or all of the ten lost tribes of Israel in biblical exegesis, travel,polemic, and literary or artistic sources during the medieval and early modern periods. Papers examing the ways in which Jewish, Christian, or Muslim views of the tribes influenced one another or in which discussions about the ten tribes served as a point of debate between religious communities are especially welcome.
Donna L. Halper,
Emily Budick The Moral Imperatives of Holocaust Fiction in the 21st Century: I want to organize a session on Jonathan Littell's extremely compelling and equally disturbing novel The Kindly Ones. Questions for consideration might include: is this a Holocaust fiction? and, if so, what kind of Holocaust fiction? Does the novel violate ethical principles and endanger the subject of the Holocaust? or does it establish a new paradigm for Holocaust writing? and if so, what is that paradigm and how might it produce a different sort of ethical imperative vis-à-vis the Holocaust narrative? Can the Holocaust narrative be told from the perspective of a perpetrator? a psychopath? and, if so, at what cost and/or benefit? These questions clearly reflect dimensions of my own thinking about the novel. What I'm really interested in doing at AJS is putting together a set of insightful papers about a book that has already achieved significant popular and academic success, but that also has been subjected to severe condemnation and disdain. At stake in the matter of how we take Littell's novel is what we imagine the future of Holocaust writing to be and whether the Holocaust will or will not remain a subject of serious literary texts. Proposals for papers (with a short synopses of the major points of argumentation) should be sent to me: Emily Budick, Department of English, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel: Emilybudick@yahoo.com.
Andrea Lieber Andrea Lieber, Dickinson College and Simon Bronner, Penn State seek to organize a panel on Jewish cyberculture. We are very interested in tying together papers dealing with the ethnography and lore of online Jewish groups and expressive culture (for example, Bronner is working on differences between oral and cyber-presentations of the Jewish joke online; Lieber has published on the blogs of ultra-orthodox Jewish women. Although papers have been presented on the subject previously at AJS meetings, there has never been a separate panel on Jewish cyberculture. If you have research on the topic, please contact Andrea Lieber at lieber@dickinson.edu, or Simon Bronner at sbronner@psu.edu.
Sharon Avni Title: The Role of Translation in Jewish Life Description: This session would address the role of translation in Jewish literary, educational, and social practices from a historical and contemporary perspective. Please send a brief proposal to:
Sharon Avni
David Freidenreich Title: "Jews and New England Protestants" OR "Jews and Christians in New England" Description: This panel seeks to bring together papers exploring various aspects of Jewish-Christian relations from across the history and geography of New England.
Laura Rosenzweig Historical Reflections on Jewish Political Power and Influence in America Description: I am seeking to organize a panel on various historical perspectives shedding new light on Jewish power and influence in American politics. My paper, entitled, Hollywood's Spies: Jewish Infiltration of Nazi Groups in Los Angeles, 1934-1945 focuses on the behind-the-scenes relationship between the Jews of Hollywood and the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1930s to expose Nazism in America. Possible topics for other panelists: Jewish political activity at the local or national level (JCRCs, ADL, AJC, NCJW, etc); Jewish responses to anti-semitism, fascism, the American right, etc in the US. Other??
Laura Rosenzweig The Jews of Hollywood and American Politics This panel seeks to understand the relationship between Jewish Hollywood and American politics. We are looking for 1 more panelists and a chair. One of the papers is entitled, Hollywood's Spies: Jewish Infiltration of Nazi Groups in Los Angeles, 1934-1945 focuses on their covert investigation of Nazi and pro-Nazi domestic groups and their secret relationship with federal authorities to out Nazi and pro-fascist sedition in the US. The second paper looks at the rise of film studio "independents," largely immigrant Jews, circa 1910, and their twofold confrontations with American society: their antitrust campaign against Edison's MPPCo, with clear racial undertones; and their struggle with Ford's antisemitic calumny for American-Jewish image control. Possible topics for other panelists: Political activities of the Jews of Hollywood; McCarthyism and Hollywood; other??
Ariella Lang Watching from a Distance: Second Generation Holocaust Film This panel is focused on examining contributions to visual culture that consider the Holocaust from a second or third generation perspective. While second generation memoir and literature has been well-documented, second and third generation film, art, and performance have largely been left to one side. Some important questions regarding this subject include: defining second-generation and third-generation in relation to Holocaust visual culture; distinguishing themes, approaches and discourse regarding the Holocaust between first generation and later visual works; analysis of a particular work; considering the ‘Hollywood-affect’ on second and third generation Holocaust film; investigating national (Israeli, American, etc.) contributions to the field of second and third generation visual responses to the Holocaust. To participate, please send title and a brief description to Ariella Lang, al223@caa.columbia.edu.
Adriana Mariel Brodsky Jewish Youth Culture Seeking panel participants for AJS 42nd Annual Conference. The panel topic is (so far) broadly conceived as "Jewish Youth Culture, 1950s-1970s." There are two participants who will discuss involvement in youth political movements in the 1970s, and Zionist youth groups in the 1960s. Papers could focus on youth involvement in political movements or on other aspects of youth culture. If you are interested, contact ambrodsky@smcm.edu.
Susan Breitzer American Jews and the Labor Movement: Present and Future Although there has historically been a deep connection between American Jews and the labor movement, in recent decades, this connection has largely been regarded as a thing of the past. Yet recent events and issues, most notably the Rubashkin’s scandal, have highlighted the continuing relevance of labor issues and of organized labor to the American Jewish experience. I therefore am seeking paper proposals that address the continued relationship between American Jewry and the labor movement, along with the changing nature of this relationship. My own paper will address the American labor movement and the state of Israel, and how the Jewish labor movement has shaped this relationship—or not. Interested participants (or those who have suggestions for a chair and/or commentator) may contact me at susan.breitzer@gmail.com or Breitzer@embarqmail.com
David Shneer Jewish Dreams David Shneer and Adam Rovner are seeking a third participant and a commenter for a panel called “Jewish Dreams” conceived broadly. David will be presenting new research on Yiddish cabaret performing communists from Holland, who survived the Holocaust, and then dreamed about a rehabilitated German state in the early 1950s and helped establish the German Democratic Republic. Adam will be presenting on Failed Jewish Utopias, those places not in Palestine in which Jews and others dreamed of Jewish territory like Uganda, Suriname, and Tasmania. We seek a third paper that has something to do with how Jews in the 20th century imagined a better world for themselves and others. Please contact David Shneer (david.shneer@colorado.edu) and Adam Rovner (arovner@du.edu) to propose a third presentation.
Dr. Anne Lapidus Lerner The Binding Unbounded: A multi-disciplinary look at the Aqeidah The staying power of the Aqeidah makes it one of the most significant texts
Elana Jakel We are seeking a third presenter and a chair/respondent for a panel examining the experiences of Jews in the former Soviet Union before and after the Holocaust at this year’s AJS conference (Dec. 19-21, 2010). The current two panelists will present papers related to their in-progress dissertations: Elana Jakel studies the experiences of Soviet Jews in Ukraine from 1943-1947; Anika Walke explores the lives of Russian Jewish women and men who survived the Holocaust in Belorussia based on oral history interviews. Due to AJS restrictions on all-student panels, our remaining panel participants must be PhDs. Please, please contact Elana at jakel@illinois.edu or Anika at awalke@ucsc.edu if you are interested.
Avi Picard Sephardim religiosity in Modern Times Description: In Modern times most of the developments in Jewish religious life (Hasidic, Ultrra-Orthodox, Modern Orthodox, Reform, Conservative etc.) were leaded by Ashkenazy Jews. I am seeking for participants who deals with ways Sephardic / Mizrahi Jews addressed these religious developments in their original country or in counties they moved to (Israel, France, and the Americas).
Haim Sperber Jewish Leadership and Philanthropy in 19th-Century Europe The session will deal with the relationship between philanthropy and politics in 19th century European Jewry. My own proposal for the conference is: Communal leadership and Philanthropy in mid 19th century Anglo-Jewry. Seeking papers on similar issues in other European countries in the 19th century.
Mark Baker The Holocaust and Other Genocides The debate about the uniqueness of the Holocaust raises questions about how the Holocaust is positioned in relation to other post-Holocaust genocides. Yehuda Bauer has since revised his view of the Holocaust as a unique event and speaks of it as a paradigm of other genocides. Yet in what way is the Holocaust paradigmatic? What is gained and lost in centering the Holocaust in discussions about genocide? My own work for this panel will focus on a comparison between the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide. I’m looking for other panellists to join me in this topic. Mark Baker,
Ken Waltzer I seek papers for an interdisciplinary Holocaust-related panel (Holocaust Studies) at the Assn of Jewish Studies in Boston, 12/2010 around the subject “Children in the Camps.” Are there people working on the condition, plight, and circumstances of children and youths in the camps who might wish to participate? Are there people working on children’s testimonies or survivor memoirs or fiction that is focused on children and youths in the camps? Are there people working on rescue efforts involving children or youths in the camps (e.g., the kinderheim in Bergen Belsen)? Are there people working on schools in the camps (e.g., the brickmason school in Auschwitz) or on the special plight and experience of children as child slave labor in specific camps? My own contribution would be a paper exploring the clandestine schools that were established by elements of the German Communist-led underground and Polish Jewish allies for children and youths inside Buchenwald in blocks 8, 23, and later 66 in 1944-1945, their evolution, content, function, and impact on everyday life among youths in the camp. Earlier, Nazi sanctioned schools – the Polish School, the Maurerschule – were established with Nazi permission inside Buchenwald to help train and discipline young (mostly Polish) prisoners, teach them German order, and equip them with useful skills as bric kmasons for the expansion of the camp. But during 1944-1945, the underground developed clandestine schools that were not sanctioned by the Nazi overlords and that operated in barracks where children were specially clustered and protected -- initially Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian youths -- then Jewish youths. The schools evolved and changed over time, as the demography of youths arriving shifted (Jewish youths), as new elements were drawn to participate in the schools (Polish Jewish veterans of the camp), and as writers, literary people, and others (like Mordechai Strigler) were recruited and picked off later arriving transports inside Buchenwald. Schools inside concentration camps? Proposal submission deadline is May 13. I can be emailed at waltzer@msu.edu. If you have ideas about papers, or about the panel as a whole, please contact me! Thanks!
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