This is the final call for papers for the annual conference of the British Association of Jewish Studies, which will take place at UCL, London, from 27-29 June 2012. An earlier call for papers was issued in October. The deadline for submission of proposals is 3 January 2012.

The conference theme will be ‘The Jews and the Sciences’. The term ‘science’ is open to interpretation because of the wide range of meanings it has been given in different cultures and in different periods of history. Even today, ‘science’ (or its counterpart in other languages) means different things in Britain and in other parts of Europe. For the purposes of this conference, ‘science’ will be taken in its widest sense. In ancient and medieval contexts, for example, it may include the disciplines of magic, astrology, and alchemy. For all periods of history, it may include philosophy, linguistics, literary theory, sociology, psychology, and all other human sciences.

In short, ‘science’ will be taken to mean any form of knowledge or study that is not culture-specific to Jews or to Judaism. It will be viewed at once as an intellectual activity (the science itself, involving study, research, discovery, dissemination), a cultural phenomenon (related to other aspects of culture such as language, religion, etc.), and an aspect of social history. Science is a context in which Jews have shared a common culture with their wider society.

The theme of ‘The Jews and the Sciences’ can be approached, therefore, in several ways. Participants may present papers, for example, on the contribution of Jews and Judaism to the sciences, or conversely, on the contribution of science to Jewish culture, literature, and Judaism. They may consider Jewish attitudes to science, the historical involvement of Jews in scientific inquiry, the production of scientific literature for Jewish audiences and in Jewish languages, or the historical and contemporary impact of sciences on Jewish culture and Jewish society.

The BAJS 2012 conference will take place consecutively after another conference at UCL on the more narrow theme of ‘Time, astronomy, and calendars in Jewish tradition’, from Monday 25th — Wednesday 27th June 2012. This conference will be hosted by the UCL AHRC-funded research project ‘Medieval Monographs on the Jewish Calendar’ and by the Institute of Jewish Studies. It will be open to the public, and we would like to encourage BAJS Conference participants to attend this conference too. The keynote lecture, delivered by Charles Burnett (Warburg Institute, London) will be shared by both conferences on Wednesday evening, 27th June. Scholars who have so far agreed to participate at the AHRC-IJS conference include Jonathan Ben-Dov (Haifa), Elisheva Carlebach (Columbia), Tzvi Langermann (Bar- Ilan), Reimund Leicht (Hebrew University), Raymond Mercier Cambridge), Marina Rustow (Johns Hopkins), and Shlomo Sela (Bar-Ilan), as well as research staff of the Jewish calendar projects at UCL.

The deadline for submission of proposals is 3 January 2012. This call for papers for the BAJS Conference 2012 is being issued at an earlier date than usual, because the forthcoming Olympic Games in London (July 2012) make it necessary for our conference to be planned well in advance.

Register for the Conference and pay your conference fees via PayPal:

As usual, papers and panels on aspects of Jewish Studies that are not related to the conference theme will also be welcome.
Please send proposals for individual papers (including title and a short, max. 300-word abstract) and panels to the President, Sacha Stern (sacha.stern@ucl.ac.uk). We look forward to your submissions.

Although the conference is open to all who are interested in an academic approach to Jewish Studies, anyone wishing to present a paper who is not a member of BAJS will ordinarily be expected to join by the time of the conference. Membership is open to anyone with a serious academic interest to Jewish studies. For membership enquiries and applications, please write to the BAJS Secretary, Lars Fischer lf309@cam.ac.uk, and see BAJS Websit : http://britishjewishstudies.org/about/join-bajs/

The conference will also deal with the aesthetic effect that derives from extracts of Jewish songs (in Yiddish or Judeo-Spanish) that are occasionally part of the sound track of movies dealing with Jewish issues, especially as far as the representation of the Shoah is concerned. Whatever the presence of Jewish languages in classic, modern or post-modern cinema might be, it is interesting to ask what this mediation of cinema means for the preservation of the endangered Jewish languages and conversely, how the nostalgic resonance of lost voices is affecting a post-modern representation of Jewish ethnicity on the screen.

This interdisciplinary conference is open to a wide range of specializations:

linguistics of the Jewish languages;

• cinema studies;
• musicology;
• cultural studies;
• Jewish history;
• Shoah studies;
• ethnology.

The working language will not be necessarily English although this option is obviously recommended.

An abstract for a suggested lecture/presentation should be sent to msjewciv@mscc.huji.ac.il by May 24, 2012.

The University proposes to appoint a University Research Lecturer in Israel Studies from 1 September 2012 or as soon as possible thereafter for five years.  The successful candidate will also be appointed to a Fellowship in Israel Studies in the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, a Recognised Independent Centre of the University.  The University Research Lecturer will be required to carry out research in the field of Israel Studies; to promote and disseminate research; to teach; and to fulfil general duties for the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

The successful applicant will have the potential to be a recognised authority in his or her field; by the time of appointment hold a doctorate (or equivalent) in some aspect of the study of Israel Studies; have a record of scholarly publications; a commitment to teaching; the potential to provide academic leadership; and be able to demonstrate a dedication to disseminating knowledge about Israel to a wider public.  Applicants without all of the required skills and experience may be considered for appointment at Grade 7 (£29,099 – £35,788 per annum).

Interviews for shortlisted candidates will be held in Oxford on Monday 12 March 2012.

Applications for this vacancy are to be made online not later than noon on Thursday 23 February 2012.  Two references should reach the Faculty by the same date.  To apply for this role and for further details, including the job description and full selection criteria, please click on the link below:

https://www.recruit.ox.ac.uk/pls/hrisliverecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.jobspec?p_id=101972

Professor Dan Michman (Yad Vashem, Hebrew University)

The Wannsee Conference: the view from Berlin

Professor Christoph Dieckman (University of Keele)

Mass murder in Lithuania and the transition to ‘the Final Solution’

Dr Alexander Korb (University of Leicester)

The Balkans as a site of mass murder and implementation of the ‘Final Solution’

The workshop is open to undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and others. The idea of the ‘workshop’ format is to explore debates arising from specific issues in Holocaust Studies in an informal atmosphere. In addition to the three presentations there will be plenty of time for conversation and a final ‘open’ panel.

Pre-booking is essential.

Time: 10.00 to 16.00

Location: The Wiener Library, 29 Russell Square, London, WC1B 5DP

Cost: £10/ £5 concessions. Payment on the day.

For further information and pre-booking: Please email Rachel.century.2009@live.rhul.ac.uk

It will build on our successful launch conference in September 2011 at SOAS, University of London, which was attended by representatives of many European countries, from Siberia to Iberia .

The aim of the conference is to bring together scholars from a variety of disciplines who are engaged in research in any aspect of Israel studies.

It will continue to build on areas previously investigated in the academic literature and also open up new fields of intellectual enquiry.

The organisers welcome all proposals including suggestions for panels which are pertinent to Israel Studies.

The EAIS will offer a limited number of travel and accommodation stipends for the Munich conference for graduate students and junior faculty.

Please send an abstract of 200-250 words together with biographical background of about 50-100 words by Monday 2 April 2012 to: Daniel Lowe, dl25@soas.ac.uk

All proposals are subject to a review process. The conference will be held in English.

The conference fee will be 20 euros. The student rate will be 15 euros.

All presenters will be members of the EAIS. For membership details, click here.

For details of the EAIS Charter, click here.

Further information and registration details will be made available on our website.

European Association of Israel Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies,
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG
+44 (0) 20 7898 4358 | infoeais@soas.ac.uk | www.soas.ac.uk/eais

TUESDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2012, 5pm
Lecture: Truth and translatability

WEDNESDAY 15 FEBRUARY 2012, 5pm
Lecture: The face of the Other: the curious nature of biblical narrative

THURSDAY 16 FEBRUARY, 4.30pm
(with drinks reception from 4pm)

Symposium: Making Space (does the Judaic model make sense in Christianity and Islam?)
with Professor Janet Soskice (Cambridge), Professor Abdou Filali-Ansari (Aga Khan University) and Professor Guy Stroumsa (Oxford).

The lectures and symposium are free and open to all however booking is required. For more information and free registration for all events, please visit:

www.humanities.ox.ac.uk/events/humanitas

Admittance will be by ticket only.

All events will take place at Talbot Hall, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.

This new one year MA offers a series of intimate encounters with the classical texts of Jewish culture, from biblical to modern times. Its intellectual home is in the department of Hebrew Culture Studies at Tel Aviv University, the single largest integrated Jewish Studies department in the world.

Courses are taught by a team of dedicated lecturers, with world-class expertise in their respective fields and committed to teaching excellence.  Courses are text-centered, with primary texts in Hebrew (with translations), and secondary reading and teaching in English, and students acquire the skills and tools that constitute the foundation of Jewish text study  Areas covered include Bible, Hebrew language, rabbinic exegesis and Midrash, Talmudic and Christian texts compared, Jewish mysticism, medieval philosophy and kabbalah, ancient Jewish magic, and modern Jewish thought.

Tel Aviv’s location provides excellent opportunities for on-site study. Students can, e.g., enhance their understanding of 1st CE texts through a series of guided excursions to archeological digs and other key locations in the Galilee, the Judean Desert and Jerusalem.
Candidates must complete the program application, by March 15th 2011.

Scholarships will be awarded by an academic committee.

To find out more about the program, and to apply for scholarships, please visit our website:
http://humanities.tau.ac.il/jewish_studies/ or contact Emilie Levy: majes@post.tau.ac.il

These awards are open to all new PhD students (home, EU or overseas) and all disciplines. The Centre for Jewish Studies is encouraging applications to the Department of Middle Eastern Studies in the School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures (LLC) or to the School of Arts, Histories and Cultures (AHC), in regard to this funding scheme from candidates working on Jewish Studies topics, including post-biblical and classical rabbinic literature, medieval Jewish-Muslim Relations, modern Jewish-Christian Relations, modern Jewish philosophy, Holocaust Studies, Israel Studies and the history and culture of modern Middle Eastern Jewry. The award covers tuition fees (home/EU or international, as appropriate) and the equivalent of the research council stipend (£13,590 in 2011-12). The following application deadlines should be observed in relation to this award:

An application for a place on a doctoral programme should be submitted to the School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures or to the School of Arts, Histories and Cultures by Wednesday 15 February 2012 at the latest; a completed funding application form should be submitted by Friday 1 March 2012 at the latest.

For guidelines about how to apply to the School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures, please visit http://www.llc.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate/funding/
For the departments or subject areas included in this school, please see
http://www.llc.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/

For guidelines about how to apply to the School of Arts, Histories and Cultures, please visit
http://www.arts.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduatestudy/funding/fundingfordoctoralstudents/
For the departments or subject areas included in this school, please see
http://www.arts.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduatestudy/researchbysubject/

For informal inquiries about the academic side of the application process, please contact Professor Alex Samely (LLC) at Alex.Samely@manchester.ac.uk or Professor Daniel Langton (AHC) at Daniel.Langton@manchester.ac.uk

For questions about the administrative side of the application process, please contact Ms Rachel Corbishley (LLC) at Rachel.Corbishley@manchester.ac.uk  or Mrs Joanne Marsh (AHC) at Joanne.Marsh@manchester.ac.uk

AS/20 December 2011

Please write to the Executive Secretary at:

Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society

2^nd Floor, Supreme House, 300 Regents Park Road, London N3 2JX for an application form or e-mail your request to: sheilarford1@sky.com

Forms may also be downloaded from the AIAS website: www.aias.org.uk

Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society, 2^nd floor, Supreme House, 300 Regents Park Road, London N3 2JX Tel: 020 8349 5754       www.aias.org.uk, Hon. President: Rt. Hon. The Viscount Allenby of Megiddo Chairman: Prof. Martin D. Goodman MA, D.Litt., FBA, Affiliated to the British Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Registered Charity No. 220367