Association For Jewish Studies Inc

Mission: The Association for Jewish Studies is a learned society and professional organization whose mission is to advance research and teaching in Jewish Studies at colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher learning, and to foster greater understanding of Jewish Studies scholarship among the wider public.

Organizational History: The Association for Jewish Studies was founded in Boston, Massachusetts 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. As a constituent organization of the American Council of Learned Societies, the Association for Jewish Studies represents the field in the larger arena of the academic study of the humanities and social sciences in North America. Our approximately 1,700 members from all over the world are university faculty, graduate students, independent scholars, librarians, and museum and related professionals who represent the breadth of Jewish Studies scholarship. We also have 70+ institutional members, made up of Jewish Studies programs and departments, foundations, and other institutions, whose work supports the mission of the AJS.

CURRENT PROGRAMS

Annual Conference: Our largest program in terms of size and expense is our annual conference, which occurs every December in a different city around the U.S. On average, over 1,000 people attend our conference each year, which represents more than 50% of our membership. A three-day event, the conference is made up of over 190 panels and sessions in which scholars from every conceivable Jewish Studies field from Bible to Yiddish Literature to Latin American Jewish History present the latest findings and research from their area of study. Not only is this conference significant for enabling scholars to share their research with each other, but attendance at the conference, especially for early-career faculty and graduate students, is a crucial marker that demonstrates one’s commitment and investment in the field of Jewish Studies. In addition to the sessions and panels, there are networking and professional development opportunities on a variety of topics throughout the conference.

Conference Travel and Childcare Grants: Each year, the AJS provides travel grants and childcare subventions to early-career academics, contingent faculty, and graduate students to make sure that these individuals can participate in our annual conference. In a typical year, we award 180+ grants totaling over $50,000 to participants from around the world. We currently receive funding ranging from $500-$15,000 from various foundations to make such grants possible. We also provide childcare grants to make sure that members with children, especially single parents, can fully participate in the conference without taking on undue financial burden.

Professional Development: The AJS continues to innovate new professional development programs including:

1)     The Paula Hyman mentorship program which provides mentorship for a small cohort of female scholars each year.

2)     A summer writing program to help women, gender non-binary individuals, and transgender members produce articles for scholarly journals. We have also launched a parallel summer writing program for members who are writing their dissertations.

3)     A fund to support the research of contingent faculty and independent scholars who lack institutional support.

4)     A Scholars of Color Fellowship to help bring more scholars of color into the AJS community.

Podcast: To promote Jewish Studies in the public sphere, the AJS produces its immensely successful podcast series Adventures in Jewish Studies, currently in its sixth year. The podcast has earned over 317,000 downloads since it launched, and the professionally produced series covers topics from the Jews of Iran to Jews and Disability to Alternative Homelands for Judaism.

Publications: As a leader in the field of Jewish Studies, the AJS prides itself on its publications.

AJS Review, our scholarly journal, receives 50-60 submissions each year and accepts approximately 30% of articles on a variety of topics.

AJS Perspectives is a magazine that focuses on a different topic each issue; recent topics have included migration, patriarchy, new/old media, and protest.

Awards and Fellowships: The AJS offers three major awards on an annual basis. The Jordan Schnitzer Book Awards recognize four winners and four finalists in four different Jewish Studies categories each year, celebrating the best scholarship in the field. These awards come with a cash prize of $10,000 and $2,500, respectively, and winning such an award confers a major distinction on the author, which can be career changing. The AJS also offers three $33,000 Dissertation Completion Grants to top graduate students from around the world. In 2021, the AJS launched the Jordan Schnitzer First Book Publication Awards to help individuals subvent the costs of publishing a first book.