Conferences and Workshops

EAJS Conference Grant Programme in European Jewish Studies (2020-21): Call for applications now open

February 27, 2020 by EAJS Administrator

EAJS Conference Grant Programme in European Jewish Studies

Call for Applications (2020-21)

The European Association for Jewish Studies (EAJS) invites applications to the EAJS Conference Grant Programme in European Jewish Studies for the academic year 2020/21, funded by the Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe. The purpose of this programme is twofold: to foster cooperation among scholars involved in Jewish Studies across Europe, and to support early career researchers in this field to develop a professional network.

Grants will be offered for two types of academic events, EAJS Conferences and EAJS Summer/Winter Schools. Academic excellence and the impact on network building in Jewish Studies across Europe will be key criteria, and international cooperation in the development of proposals is strongly encouraged.

EAJS Conferences and Summer/Winter Schools may be devoted to any topic of relevance in Jewish Studies, including but not limited to Jewish history, Jewish thought, Jewish languages and literatures, Jewish history of science and knowledge, Jewish material heritage, and Jewish topics in the social and political sciences.

For both EAJS Conferences and Summer/Winter Schools, a grant application must include a description of the core theme, topic or discourse to be examined, the rationale/justification for the event, the duration, the venue, and how the event will enhance international academic cooperation and networking.

The application must also outline the expected participants and explain how the proposed theme will be translated into the format of the event. For example, in the case of an EAJS Conference, this might be a discussion-focused one-day workshop or a wide-ranging synoptic conference. An application for a grant for an EAJS Conference should name scholars who have already committed to participate, although additional calls for papers and invitations to scholars in the field are possible. In the case of an EAJS Summer/Winter School, this outline should describe the faculty involved, the non-faculty participants (e.g. undergraduate/graduate students; postdocs/early-career scholars; general public), and how the theme will be translated into both lectures by faculty and active forms of involvement for the non-faculty participants (e.g. discussions, group work and presentations).

For both types of application, the applicant(s) are encouraged to invite participants from across Europe in order to allow for a broad representation of approaches and academic cultures. Cooperation between different institutions, preferably from different European countries, is encouraged. The EAJS welcomes applications that demonstrate a degree of public or Jewish communal impact.

Proposed budgets will be assessed against the academic excellence and relevance of the applications as well as its expected outcomes and outputs. Applicants may request between £1,600 and £8,000 for the travel, accommodation and basic maintenance expenses (i.e. lunch and coffees) of the active participants. Expenses for European keynote speakers may also be included. Applications that propose to assign a portion of these expenses to PhD students and early career researchers are encouraged. The exact amount awarded to the successful proposals will be decided by the EAJS’s award committee. In case of an event budget exceeding the award, the applicants must show evidence for the ability to provide for the remaining amount.

Applications are to be submitted by one or more scholars actively involved in Jewish Studies. The main applicant (who must be based at the host institution) must be a fully paid-up Full Member of the European Association for Jewish Studies. Co-applicants and the active participants are not required to be members of the EAJS, though the EAJS expects that the majority of the active participants will be involved in academic pursuits at European universities and academic institutions. The academic event must be hosted by a university or similar academic institution based in a European country and must be scheduled to occur between 1 September 2020 and 31 August 2021.

The successful applicants will be required to produce a short academic report of the major outcomes which will be posted on the EAJS website. English must be one of the conference languages, though it need not necessarily be the only language for the conference. The academic report must be written in English.

Submission process: Applications for the Conference Grant Programme must be submitted through the following online form (which must be completed in full):

https://www.cognitoforms.com/EAJS/EAJSConferenceGrantProgramme202021

The deadline for applications is 5 April 2020.

Awards will be transferred approximately four months prior to the academic event.

Enquiries about the programme should be sent to admin@eurojewishstudies.org

Please note that applicants should identify and contact the relevant cost centre at their home institution (Department, Faculty, University) in order to avoid complications in the transfer of funds in case of a successful application. Also, applicants must document sufficient institutional support for holding the event at the host institution, and for the adequate administration of the funds.

EAJS Nahmanides Workshop Programme (2020-21): Call for applications now open

February 27, 2020 by EAJS Administrator

EAJS Nahmanides Workshop Programme

Call for Applications (2020-21)

The European Association for Jewish Studies (EAJS) invites applications to the Nahmanides Workshop Programme for the academic year 2020-21.

The Nahmanides Workshop Programme is one of the fruits of the workshop ‘E Pluribus Unum? Multidisciplinarity in Jewish Studies Programs and Teaching,’ held in Girona in May 2017. A report about the Girona workshop can be found on the EAJS website [link]. The programme is named after the medieval scholar, rabbi, kabbalist and physician, Moses ben Nahman, commonly known as Nahmanides, who lived most of his life in Girona.

The purpose of the Nahmanides workshop programme is to support focused workshops addressing specific issues and problems relating to the teaching of academic Jewish Studies in Europe. The proposed workshop must be on a clearly identified and focused topic relating to the teaching of Jewish Studies in Europe, rather than a broad-themed workshop. Academic excellence and the impact on network building in Jewish Studies across Europe will also be relevant criteria; international cooperation in the development of proposals is strongly encouraged.

One grant of up to a maximum of £6,500 will be awarded to help organise the proposed workshop. The grant may be used to fund the travel, accommodation and basic maintenance expenses (i.e. lunch and coffees) of the active participants. Proposed budgets will be assessed against the coherence and relevance of the submission as well as its expected outcomes and outputs. The exact amount awarded to the successful workshop proposal will be decided by the EAJS’s award committee. In case of an event budget exceeding the award, the applicants will need to show evidence for the ability to provide for the remaining amount.

Applications are to be submitted by one or more scholars actively involved in Jewish Studies in Europe. The main applicant (who must be based at the host institution for the workshop) needs to be a fully paid-up Full Member of the European Association for Jewish Studies. Co-applicants and the active participants are not required to be members of the EAJS, though membership is encouraged, and the active participants will all need to be involved in the teaching of Jewish Studies at European universities and academic institutions. The workshop must be hosted by a university or similar academic institution based in a European country, and the workshop must be scheduled to occur between 1 September 2020 and 31 August 2021.

The successful applicants will be required to produce a short academic report of the major outcomes which will be posted on the EAJS website. The academic report must be written in English.

Submission process: Applications for the Nahmanides Workshop Programme must be submitted through the following online form (which must be completed in full):

https://www.cognitoforms.com/EAJS/EAJSNahmanidesWorkshopProgrammeCallForApplications202021

The deadline for applications is 5 April 2020.

Awards will be transferred approximately four months prior to the workshop.

Enquiries about the programme should be sent to admin@eurojewishstudies.org

Symposium. Terms of Art: Understanding the Mechanics of Dispossession During the Nazi Period. New York. 7 – 8 May 2020.

February 19, 2020 by EAJS Administrator

Terms of Art: Understanding the Mechanics of Dispossession During the Nazi Period

Thursday, May 7, 2020 – Friday, May 8, 2020

CUNY Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10016

The registration process for the symposium has now begun. Kindly complete the form on the symposium website, http://www.dfs.ny.gov/termsofart.

Please note that space is limited, and the symposium centers on a highly specialized subject. In order to ensure the substance remains focused, participation is intended for practitioners in this field including claimant representatives, attorneys, members of the art trade, cultural institution professionals, provenance researchers, historians and art historians.

This symposium aims to explore from the historical, art historical and practical perspectives and across practitioner groups, what it means to describe involuntary loss using a specific term. The symposium will include expert paper presentations and panel-led discussions among claimant representatives, attorneys, members of the art trade, cultural institutions, provenance researchers, historians and art historians.

Following the symposium, papers will be published as a free online book. The goal of the publication is to further the dialogue concerning this issue and promote greater understanding about the mechanics of dispossession as they relate to claims for artwork involuntarily lost as a result of Nazi persecution.

Our aim is to inform and guide future discussions about the disparate views on these historical events and how a common understanding of these terms can effectively contribute to resolving claims in a more consistent and expeditious manner.

********************

Anna B. Rubin, Esq.

Director, Holocaust Claims Processing Office

New York State Department of Financial Services

One State Street, 22^nd Floor, New York, NY 10004

Phone: (800) 695-3318| Phone: (212) 709-5583 | Fax: (212) 709-5407 | anna.rubin@dfs.ny.gov

Homepage: www.dfs.ny.gov/hcpo.htm

Symposium: www.dfs.ny.gov/termsofart

Workshop. “Medieval and Early Modern Hebrew Manuscript Studies: Codicology, Palaeography, Art History”. OCHJS, Oxford (6-17 July 2020). Deadline: 31 March 2020.

February 9, 2020 by EAJS Administrator

OXFORD CENTRE FOR HEBREW AND JEWISH STUDIES

Medieval and Early Modern Hebrew Manuscript Studies: Codicology, Palaeography, Art History

SUMMER WORKSHOP: 6 to 17 July 2020

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: 31 MARCH 2020

Project Leaders: Judith Olszowy-Schlanger (OCHJS and Corpus Christi College); César Merchán-Hamann (OCHJS and Bodleian Library). In collaboration with Agata Paluch (Freie Universität Berlin).

Recent years have witnessed an unprecedented interest in Hebrew manuscripts in various fields of academic Jewish studies. The development of new technologies to deal with medieval and early modern handwriting, online accessibility of the contents of the major European Hebrew manuscript collections, creation of manuscripts databases, and programmes dedicated to the study and preservation of Jewish archives and libraries, have made and continue to make the manuscripts readily available for scholarly investigation. This readiness of access to information has already given a new impetus to ‘the return to primary sources’ in historical research and encouraged new editorial projects concerning medieval Hebrew texts.

Together with this renewed dynamism of historical and textual studies based on the unprecedented availability and ease with which students can consult manuscripts in good quality reproduction, there is a growing awareness of the necessity to understand the material and cognitive aspects involved in manuscript production and circulation. Indeed, the accessibility of the sources needs to go hand in hand with a focused preparation of the students and scholars to approach these handwritten medieval sources in their specificity and complexity.

As a matter of fact, many students and scholars who are using original manuscripts in their historical or literary research feel, and often express, the inadequacy of methodological tools at their disposal in order to better comprehend and exploit this rich source material.

The Summer Workshop in Oxford has two parts. Applicants may sign up for either or both weeks.

Medieval (July 6-10): The first part will present an intensive programme in the fields of medieval Hebrew codicology, paleography, art history, history of the book, and collections, bindings and Jewish calendars.
Early Modern (July 13-17): The second part will start with the impact of print on reading and book collecting practices in early modern times, the subsequent interaction between manuscripts and print, concentrating then on palaeography and codicology, together with a brief survey of conservation.

Several specialists will provide an in-depth methodological introduction and research guidance to the fields of Hebrew manuscripts studies, with the emphasis being on practical, hands-on work utilising the Bodleian’s unparalled collections. The Workshop is organised in collaboration with the Bodleian Library and the Freie Universität Berlin. The Bodleian Library will allow access to original manuscripts in situ for the teaching sessions. Lecturers will include Professor Judith Olszowy-Schlanger, Professor Sarit Shalev-Eyni, Dr Agata Paluch, and Dr. César Merchán-Hamann.

Suitably-qualified scholars and students are invited to apply. Space for the Workshop is limited and early application is advised. Selection of participants will be on the basis of the potential benefit to their studies from attending the Workshop.

A very limited number of bursaries is available. The bursaries cover, wholly or partially, travel, tuition, accommodation and maintenance costs, and will be awarded at the discretion of the organisers on the basis of financial circumstances and suitability for the Workshop.

Workshop Fee: £120 (one week only); £240 (both weeks)

Applications should reach the Centre by 31 March 2020.

Applicants will be informed no later than 24 April 2020 whether their application has been successful and the Workshop Fee will be due for payment by 30 April 2020.

For more detailed information see: www.ochjs.ac.uk/

or contact: Prof. Judith Olszowy-Schlanger (judith.schlanger@orinst.ox.ac.uk); Dr. César Merchán-Hamann (cesar.merchan-hamann@bodleian.ox.ac.uk)

For any other queries contact: Martine Smith-Huvers (registrar@ochjs.ac.uk)

Workshop. Understanding and Combating Antisemitism. Merton College, Oxford University. 29 March – 1 April 2020.

February 9, 2020 by EAJS Administrator

“Understanding and Combating Antisemitism” (Workshop)

Merton College, Oxford University

Sunday, March 29, 2020 (evening) – Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Rolling Deadline – Space Is Limited

The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), is an international interdisciplinary research centre. ISGAP is currently seeking candidates for a three-day workshop focused on issues of contemporary antisemitism as it relates to policy. It is designed primarily for civil servants who work in, or who are interested in areas of policy related to matters of antisemitism, race relations, discrimination, human rights, equality, justice, education and citizenship.

Antisemitism, the oldest form of hatred, is increasing throughout Europe and globally. Moreover, contemporary antisemitism has different attributes and characteristics in comparison to historical variations. Therefore, it is essential to explore the facets of contemporary antisemitism in order to develop effective policy, good practices and strategies to confront this problem.

Antisemitism must be understood as a human rights issue, not a parochial Jewish or Israeli problem. As Nobel Prize winner Professor Elie Wiesel taught, antisemitism begins with Jews, but never ends with Jews. It is an attack on democratic principles and the core values of our society. Discussion leaders and panellists will comprise leading international scholars, policymakers and practitioners. Participants will ideally be government officials, civil servants, or policy experts in Europe, and from other countries.

To submit an application please email an up to date CV and letter of intent with the subject line, “Merton College Applicant”, to info@isgap.org

Questions may be submitted to:
Mr. Ira Guberman, Manager of Programming and Operations,
212-230-1840 or info@isgap.org
Registration Fees May Apply