A "JudaicaFest", comprising end-on conferences of the British Association for Jewish Studies (on the theme "Normative Judaism"), The Jewish Law Association, and a colloquium on "Jewish Culture in the Age of Globalisation", including featured speakers, will be held in Manchester in the week commencing Sunday 20th July 2008.

The object of the combination of conferences is to explore the relationship between “classical” and “modern” Jewish Studies

Now Available:

Provisional Programme as at 12 May 2008

Registration Form

The theme of the British Association for Jewish Studies (July 20-22) will be Normative Judaism; featured speakers to include Daniel Boyarin and David Novak.  See Call for papers below.

A theme (optional) of the Jewish Law Association conference (July 22-24) will be Normativity and Authority in Jewish Law; featured speakers to include Daniel Boyarin.  See Call for Papers below.

The conference on "Jewish Culture in the Age of Globalisation" will overlap (July 21-23). Featured speakers include Sander Gilman and Robert Wistrich.

The week concludes with an invited workshop hosted by the Agunah Research Unit (July 24-25). Enquiries to bernard.jackson@manchester.ac.uk

A single registration form and fee covers the entire event.

Catering throughout will be kosher, under supervision.

Calls for Papers

British Association for Jewish Studies: The theme of this year's BAJS meeting is 'Normative Judaism'. Topics may pertain to any time period and geographical or cultural context in Jewish Studies. 'Normativity' and 'marginality' are terms that may be interpreted broadly, and the expectation is that both essentialist and non-essentialist approaches will be presented. Proposals for papers (and panels) exploring the relationship between 'Judaism' and 'Jewishness' more generally, and/or investigating the impact of non-Jewish influences upon Jewish thought and practice, are especially welcome.  Along with proposals please submit a brief list of major publications or cv of no more than one paragraph. Single paper proposals should be no longer than 250 words and panel proposals need not exceed one page. Please e-mail proposals to daniel.langton@manchester.ac.uk, with 'BAJS 2008' in the subject line. The deadline for paper abstracts and proposed panels is 15 February 2008.

Jewish Culture in the Age of Globalisation: Jewish cultures existing in the Western world during the last two centuries have been and continue to be read as hyphenated phenomena within a specific national context, such as German-Jewish or American-Jewish culture. Even the creation of the State of Israel as a Jewish State has lead to such classifications within Israeli society. This conference will concern itself with the ways in which recent discourses such as postcolonialism and transnationalism might relate to global Jewish cultures and open up new paradigms of Jewish identity. Papers may address, in this context, issues of nation, race, the Holocaust and other genocides, anti-Semitism, gender and sexual identities, and the impact of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The intent of the conference is to begin a process of investigation into twenty-first century Jewish identity. The programme consists largely of invited speakers from various parts of the Jewish world. However, a small number of slots may be available for papers by other participants.  Please send proposals to cathy.gelbin@manchester.ac.uk.

Jewish Law Association: The Association welcomes historical, dogmatic, philosophical and comparative approaches to Jewish law. Papers may be offered on any topic/period of Jewish law, though preference may be given to those on the theme of Normativity and Authority in Jewish Law. Please submit an abstract (100 to 200 words) of your proposed paper by e-mail (the preferred method) to bernard.jackson@manchester.ac.uk or by regular mail to Prof. Bernard Jackson, Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Manchester, Samuel Alexander Building, Lime Grove, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK, at your earliest convenience, and in any event no later than February 15th, 2008. The Conference Organising Committee will decide which papers are accepted and how they are arranged in the programme, which if necessary will include a number of parallel sessions.

Venue and Timetable:

The venue for sessions and meals is Staff House, Sackville Street, which is Building 13 on the campus map of the University of Manchester (http://www.manchester.ac.uk/medialibrary/maps/campusmap.pdf). Conference accommodation is in Weston Hall (Building 11) nearby.  This part of the campus is within easy walking distance of the city centre.

The Manchester JudaicaFest will commence with lunch on Sunday 20th July 2008, followed by the first session of the BAJS conference, which will conclude with lunch on Tuesday 22nd July.  The JLA conference will commence on the Tuesday afternoon and conclude with lunch on Thursday 24th July. The Globalisation conference overlaps, July 21st-23rd. The overall registration admits to sessions at any of the conferences. A social/cultural programme will be organised in the evenings.

The provisional programme as at 3 April 2008 is available to download here.

Registration:

The registration fee for Manchester JudaicaFest is £30 for university staff and students, if paid by the end of April 2008; otherwise £50.00.  A daily fee of £20.00 is also available. Payment details are on the registration form.

Accommodation:

The campus accommodation, Weston Hall, is a modern Hall of Residence, whose single rooms all have en suite facilities, ethernet links and telephones. For further details, see http://www.accommodation.manchester.ac.uk/universityresidences/citycampus/westonhall/

CANCELLATION POLICY

Our block accommodation with the university has to be finalised four weeks before the event: we are liable in principle for all rooms retained thereafter, although the university will attempt to resell any rooms cancelled within that time. We will do our best to facilitate any late cancellations, and will reimburse registrants provided that the conference does not make a loss. However, we encourage registrants to ensure that they are covered for such cancellations by their own travel insurance, in case we are not able to make such refunds.

A limited number of double rooms at Days Hotel, immediately adjacent to the campus accommodation, are being held on a first-come-first-served basis, at rates lower than those advertised on their web sites: double rooms for double occupancy at £69.35 per night + 17.5% VAT. Breakfast is included (though you can come for a kosher breakfast to the conference building - for which a charge will be made). Days is rated equivalent to a 3 star standard; click here for further details. Requests for rooms at Days must be sent to the Centre for Jewish Studies, along with your registration form. If you want to take advantage of this, you are urged to register as soon as possible, since this block of rooms is now almost fully reserved.

Slightly further away but recommended is the Thistle Manchester, 3-5 Portland Street, Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester, M1 6DP; Phone: 0871 376 9026; e-mail: manchester@thistle.co.uk, located 10-15 minutes walk from the conference site: click here for details. Bookings here and at any other Manchester hotels must be made by you directly.

Meals:

The conference food (including breakfasts and breaks) is entirely kosher, provided by I&M Caterers under the supervision of the Manchester Beth Din.  We have arranged for exclusive use of the kitchen and dining room in Staff House for the week.  Participants who do not wish to avail themselves of the conference food have a range of other facilities available within easy walking distance.

Bursaries:

Click here for the registration form, which includes costs of accommodation and meals