Call for Papers: 'The Image and the Prohibition of the Image in Judaism',

Call for Papers: 'The Image and the Prohibition of the Image in Judaism'

(ISJM) Scholars of Jewish art and visual communication will want to note what may prove to be an important gathering in Southampton, England next September.

Call for Papers:
The Image and the Prohibition of the Image in Judaism,
British Association for Jewish Studies (BAJS), Southampton,
5-7 September, 2010

Call for Papers:
The theme of 2010 BAJS Conference (Sunday 5th - Tuesday 7th September 2010) is 'The Image and the Prohibition of the Image in Judaism'. Topics may cover any time period from antiquity to the contemporary, and any place or cultural context relevant for Jewish Studies. The 'image' may be interpreted broadly to include the non-visual (e.g. literary representations and conceptual images) as well as the visual. The expectation is that papers will explore different aspects of the acceptance and the rejection of images in Jewish thought and practice from the Bible to the modern world. Topics may include the secular as well as the religious sphere.

Proposals for papers (and panels) in the following areas are especially welcome:

* biblical traditions and their interpretation
* notions of 'the image of God'
* Jewish art and Jewish symbols
* idolatry and iconoclasm
* the prohibition and acceptance of images in Holocaust representation
* representing Jewishness in film and television
* Jewish/non-Jewish relations and the second commandment

Practical details:
Single paper proposals should be no longer than 250 words and panel proposals need not exceed one page. Please email proposals to Dr Sarah Pearce (s.j.pearce@soton.ac.uk) with 'BAJS 2010' in the subject line. The deadline for paper abstracts and proposed panels is 31 May 2010. Registration details will be circulated soon.

Please note the September date for this meeting instead of the usual July date. This change was made for 2010 in order to avoid clashes with the July 2010 conferences of the European Association of Jewish Studies (Ravenna) and the UK Society for Old Testament Studies (Sheffield).

Please note that though the conference is open to all (see details below), anyone wishing to present a paper who is not a member of BAJS must join by the time of the conference. Membership is open to anyone interested in an academic approach to Jewish studies. For membership enquiries and applications, please write to: Dr James K. Aitken, Lecturer in Hebrew, Old Testament and Second Temple Studies, Faculty of Divinity | West Road | Cambridge CB3 9BS | UK. Email: jka12@hermes.cam.ac.uk BAJS Website : http://britishjewishstudies.org/about/join-bajs/

There are three categories of membership of BAJS:

1. Ordinary Members
Ordinary membership is open to scholars concerned with the academic pursuit of Jewish Studies.

2. Student Members
Student membership is open to graduate students working for a higher degree in the field of Jewish Studies.

3. Associate Members
Associate membership is open to (a) those outside the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland who have a serious academic interest in Jewish Studies, and (b) those within the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland with a serious academic interest in Jewish Studies but who are not professionally involved in the subject. Members of all categories are welcome to attend the annual conference and to present papers at it (subject to acceptance via the Call for Papers process).