Call for Papers

Welcome to the 55th Annual AJS Conference Call for Papers!

Dear Colleagues,

As Vice President for Program, I am delighted to issue the Call for Papers for the 55th Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies. The sessions you propose are the heart of the conference, and we appreciate each of our members' investment in making the annual conference such a stimulating and engaging gathering.

This year—for the first time ever— we're thrilled to be hosting the conference in San Francisco from December 17–19, 2023 at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis! The city is home to one of the oldest Jewish communities on the West Coast, and we'll be offering an additional day of arts and culture that includes tours of local Jewish museums, neighborhoods, and historical sites. The conference hotel is also located next to the Contemporary Jewish Museum and offers easy access to many of the city's most exciting attractions.

The AJS conference offers many ways to highlight cutting-edge scholarship, promote scholarly collaboration, network with diverse colleagues, and mentor future scholars. We have over twenty different divisions that reflect the diversity of our scholarship.

This Call for Papers contains detailed information about types of sessions, the submission process, and subject area divisions. See the guide to start your submission process. Please reach out to Division Chairs or check out the Form for Organizing Session Submissions if you need help identifying colleagues with whom you could collaborate to develop a proposal.

The deadline for submission of proposals is Thursday, May 4 at 5:00 PM EDT.

All submitters must be current AJS Individual Members for 2023. In addition to being able to submit a conference proposal, other benefits of membership include:

• Eligibility to apply for AJS members-only grants and awards.
• Subscriptions to the peer-reviewed journal AJS Review, the magazine AJS Perspectives, and the email newsletter AJS News.
• Access to AJS Professional Development opportunities, including career counseling, mentor program, workshops, and webinars.

New this year!

At the time of submission, presenters/organizers will be able to select from one of three presentation formats: in person at the conference, conference hybrid session, or online Conversation Series.

• Conversation Series: Participants who are experiencing financial or health precarity (or are otherwise unable to travel) may submit proposals for the AJS Conversation Series, which will take place entirely online and on dates scheduled from July 2023-June 2024. In order to achieve cohesive sessions and robust scholarly exchange, preference may be given to roundtable, lightning round, or scholarship/performance submissions.
• Hybrid Pilot: The 2023 Conference in San Francisco will include one room set up with the technology to allow for hybrid presentations (approximately 12 panels total). Because this format costs AJS an extra $20,000 per room, we will not be able to offer more hybrid space. Hence priority will be given to proposals that (1) include presenters who experience obstacles to presenting in person and/or (2) have a coherent rationale in their proposal for how their panel will benefit from a hybrid format. Again, preference may be given to complete session proposals. Because the cost is prohibitive, you will not be able to change to a hybrid format later if you do not submit to this program when proposals are due.
• Checklist: We became aware that our eligibility requirements were, in some cases, difficult to find. As a result, we have added a checklist to the submission site. Submitters can more easily confirm that their proposals meet the eligibility requirements before finalizing their submissions.

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 at leibman@reed.edu. For questions about the proposal submission process, please email Mary Arnstein, and for questions about AJS membership or payment, please email Melinda Man.

Best wishes,