Association for Jewish Studies (1969-), learned society

The Association for Jewish Studies (AJS) is a North American Association for Judaic Studies.

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History

"The Association for Jewish Studies (AJS) was founded in 1969 by a small group of scholars seeking a forum for exploring methodological and pedagogical issues in the new field of Jewish Studies. Since its founding, the AJS has grown into the largest learned society and professional organization representing Jewish Studies scholars worldwide... The organization’s primary mission is to promote, facilitate, and improve teaching and research in Jewish Studies at colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher learning. Its more than 1800 members are university faculty, graduate students, independent scholars, and museum and related professionals who represent the breadth of Jewish Studies scholarship. The organization’s institutional members represent leading North American programs and departments in the field.

The AJS’s major programs and projects include an annual scholarly conference, featuring more than 150 sessions; a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, AJS Review, published by Cambridge University Press; a biannual magazine, AJS Perspectives, that explores methodological and pedagogical issues; Positions in Jewish Studies, the most comprehensive listing of Jewish Studies job opportunities; Resources in Jewish Studies, an online guide to Jewish Studies programs, grant opportunities, professional development resources, electronic research tools, and doctoral theses; and the Jordan Schnitzer Book Awards and Cahnman Foundation Publication Subventions, which recognize outstanding research in the field.

Membership in the Association is open to individuals whose full-time vocation is teaching, research, or related endeavors in academic Jewish Studies; to other individuals whose intellectual concerns are related to the purposes of the Association; and to graduate students concentrating in an area of Jewish Studies. Institutional membership is open to Jewish Studies programs and departments, foundations, and other institutions whose work supports the mission of the AJS." (from the AJS website)

The focus of the Association is on the entire spectrum of Judaic Studies, including Second Temple Studies.

Annual Conferences

1-9

• 1969 - 1st Meeting

• 1970 - 2nd Meeting

• 1971 - 3rd Meeting

• 1972 - 4th Meeting

• 1973 - 5th Meeting

• 1974 - 6th Meeting

• 1975 - 7th Meeting

• 1976 - 8th Meeting

• 1977 - 9th Meeting

10-19

• 1978 - 10th Meeting

• 1999 - 11th Meeting

• 1980 - 12th Meeting

• 1981 - 13th Meeting

• 1982 - 14th Meeting

• 1983 - 15th Meeting

• 1984 - 16th Meeting

• 1985 - 17th Meeting

• 1986 - 18th Meeting

• 1987 - 19th Meeting

20-29

• 1988 - 20th Meeting

• 1989 - 21st Meeting

• 1990 - 22nd Meeting

• 1991 - 23rd Meeting

• 1992 - 24th Meeting

• 1993 - 25th Meeting

• 1994 - 26th Meeting

• 1995 - 27th Meeting

• 1996 - 28th Meeting

• 1997 - 29th Meeting

30-39

• 1998 (Boston, MA; 20-22 December 1998) - 30th Meeting

• 1999 - 31st Meeting

• 2000 - 32nd Meeting

• 2001 - 33rd Meeting

• 2002 - 34th Meeting

• 2003 - 35th Meeting

• 2004 - 36th Meeting

• 2005 - 37th Meeting

• 2006 (Manchester Grand Hyatt, San Diego, CA; December 17–19, 2006) - 38th Meeting
  • DEAD SEA SCROLLS / Chair and Respondent: Lawrence H. Schiffman (New York University)
    • The “Fear Factor” in Early Jewish Warfare / Steven P. Weitzman (Indiana University)
    • Prophets and Prophecy in the Qumran Community / Alex Jassen (University of Minnesota)
    • Contributions from the Dead Sea Scrolls for The Oxford Hebrew Bible Edition of Leviticus / Sarianna Metso (University of Toronto)
    • Methodological Reflections on Determining Scriptural Status in First-Century Judaism / Eugene C. Ulrich (University of Notre Dame)

• 2007 (Sheraton Centre; Toronto, Canada; 16-18 December 2007) - 39th Meeting

40-49

• 2008 (Grand Hyatt Washington, Washington, DC; 21-23 December 2008) - 40th Meeting
  • THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS AND ANCIENT JUDAISM / Chair: Moshe J. Bernstein (Yeshiva University)
    • Reading Polemic: The Temple Scroll and Rabbinic Accounts of the Display of the Temple Sancta to Festival Pilgrims / Steven D. Fraade (Yale University)
    • A New Suggestion for the Reconstruction of 4Q370 and Its Implications for the Blessing of the Divine Name in the Birkat ha-Mazon / Alex P. Jassen (University of Minnesota)
    • Laws of Kosher Food in the Dead Sea Scrolls / Lawrence H. Schiffman (New York University)
    • Apocalyptic Literature, Ideas, and Movements: The Book of Jubilees and the Variety of Judaism in Antiquity / Todd Hanneken (St. Mary’s University)

• 2009 (Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, Los Angeles, CA; 20-22 December 2009) - 41st Meeting
  • THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS IN CONTEXT / Chair: Hindy Najman (University of Toronto)
    • Purity as Separation: Comparing the Dead Sea Scrolls, Rabbinic Literature, and the New Testament / Lawrence H. Schiffman (New York University)
    • Taming the Wild and Wilding the Tame: The Shifting Relationships between Humans, God, and Nature in the Qumran and Rabbinic Calendars / Ron H. Feldman (Graduate Theological Union)
    • Connecting the Dots in the History of Halakhah: The Restriction on Thinking about Labor on the Sabbath in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jubilees, and Rabbinic Literature / Alex P. Jassen (University of Minnesota)
    • The Current State of the Archaeological Debate at Qumran / Robert R. Cargill (University of California, Los Angeles)

• 2010 (Westin Copley Place; Boston, MA; 19-21 December 2010) - 42nd Meeting

External links

• AJS website