2010 BIENNIAL SCHOLARS' CONFERENCE ON AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY (New York City)

JUNE 15-17, 2010

Sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society

The 2010 Biennial Scholars' Conference on American Jewish History will meet in New York City at the Center for Jewish History, June 15-17, 2010. Proposals for papers in diverse areas of the American Jewish experience are invited. The committee especially encourages papers and sessions that reexamine the notion of American Jewish "exceptionalism," or uniqueness, that has shaped conceptions of American Jewish history from its beginning. According to standard narratives of exceptionalism, American Jewish history has been characterized by an unparalleled degree of freedom, acceptance, and prosperity that has enabled Jews to synthesize their Jewish identities with the demands of national citizenship far more effortlessly than other diasporic Jews. American Jewish exceptionalism has also been rendered as a way of differentiating Jews from other ethnic groups in the United States by virtue of Jewish educational and economic attainment and, often, by virtue of Jewish "values," including a devotion to educational and social/political liberalism. Yet to what extent are these notions about American uniqueness, on the one hand, and Jewish uniqueness, on the other, accurate? Does the concept of exceptionalism continue to provide a useful framework for understanding American Jewish history? Should it be qualified for greater nuance or discarded altogether? The committee is interested in papers and sessions that address these and similar questions from any number of perspectives.

Graduate students completing dissertations may submit proposals accompanied by a letter of recommendation from their advisor. All submissions must include a one-page paper abstract and short biography (250 WORDS). Complete panel proposals are also strongly encouraged. Please send proposals to the committee by November 1, 2009.

Proposals should be submitted electronically to conferencepapers@ajhs.org.

Prof. Tony Michels
Chair, Organizing Committee