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    • AJS Perspectives

    Call for Submissions

    Jewish Futures

    Deadline for Pitches: November 15, 2025
    Publication Date: Summer 2026

    The editors of AJS Perspectives, Dr. Laura Auketayeva (Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center) and Dr. Jonathan Skolnik (University of Massachusetts Amherst), invite scholars, researchers, artists, and practitioners to submit proposals for short, accessible essays exploring visions of the Jewish future across history, culture, politics, and thought.

    Background

    “Remember the past, live the present, trust the future,” is a phrase attributed to Abba Kovner, Jewish partisan leader, and later Israeli poet and writer. But in the present moment, war, politics, and the rapid rise of AI make the future appear as threatening and uncertain as it does promising. How was the future conceptualized and anticipated in the Jewish world in past centuries? How do we as scholars in Jewish studies anticipate the future of our various research and teaching sub-fields?

    Proposal Guidelines

    We welcome short, engaging pieces (max. 1,500 words) written for a broad audience.For the Summer 2026 issue of AJS Perspectives, we invite proposals for contributions that explore ideas of the future, futurity, and the future directions of our research areas.

    Possibilities include, but are not limited to:

    •    • The “temporal turn” in ancient studies
    •    • Eschatology, open and closed futures
    •    • Ideas of the Jewish future during, after, and since the Holocaust
    •    • Demographic research, projections, and their politics
    •    • The future of Jewish Studies as a discipline
    •    • Post–October 7 visions of the Jewish community and security
    •    • Technology, AI, and digital culture in Jewish life Jewish sci-fi and fantasy
    •    • Utopian/dystopian cinema; artists envisioning Jewish futures; curatorial perspectives on contemporary Jewish art.
    •    • Messianism in Jewish thought
    •    • Political and cultural movements
    •    • Ethical and philosophical reflections

    This issue seeks contributions that reflect on what the Jewish future means to you and your field. We welcome pieces that draw on historical perspective, contemporary analysis, creative work, and scholarship to explore this theme.

    Timeline

    •    • October 1, 2025 – CFP posted
    •    • November 15, 2025 – Pitches due
    •    • November 30, 2025 – Decisions sent
    •    • Late December 2025 – Final essays/artwork due
    •    • February 1, 2026 – Content to Managing Editor Karin Kugel for copyediting
    •    • Summer 2026 – Publication

    How to Pitch

    Email both editors with:

    •    • A 250-word abstract (what you’ll argue/show and why it matters)
    •    • A 100-word bio

    Submit to:

    •    • Laura Auketayeva, Ph.D. – Director of Education, Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center – lauraa@hercri.org
    •    • Jonathan Skolnik, Ph.D. – Associate Professor of German, University of Massachusetts Amherst – jskolnik@german.umass.edu

    Diversity of Voices

    We aim to include contributors across career stages, geographies, disciplines, and institutional contexts. We are especially eager to welcome perspectives from fields such as ancient Jewish studies, philosophy, theology, literature, and the arts. We particularly encourage submissions from contingent faculty, independent scholars, museum and public history professionals, and creative practitioners. Authors may also reflect on how their own positionality informs their vision of Jewish futures.