Association for Jewish Studies c/o Center for Jewish History  West th Street New York, NY - Phone: () - Fax: () - E-mail: [email protected] www.ajsnet.org Sara R. Horowitz, York University President Marsha Rozenblit, University of Maryland Conference Program Chair Rona Sheramy, Association for Jewish Studies Executive Director Th e Association for Jewish Studies is a Constituent Society of Th e American Council of Learned Societies. Th e Association for Jewish Studies wishes to thank the Center for Jewish History and its constituent organizations—the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Sephardi Federation, the Leo Baeck Institute, the Yeshiva University Museum, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research— for providing the AJS with offi ce space at the Center for Jewish History. Copyright © 2007 No portion of this publication may be reproduced by any means without the express written permission of the Association for Jewish Studies. 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A J S SSOCIATION FOR EWISH TUDIES 39 A C TH NNUAL ONFERENCE Program Book Contents Association for Jewish Studies Mission Statement.................................................... 4 Institutional Members................................................................................................... 5 Message from the Conference Chair........................................................................... 6 Conference Information............................................................................................... 9 Program Committee and Division Coordinators..................................................... 10 New Awards.................................................................................................................. 11  Award Recipients........................................................................................... 12–13 Hotel Floor Plans....................................................................................................... 14 Sessions at a Glance.................................................................................................... 18 Conference Program.................................................................................................. 23 Division Meeting Locations....................................................................................... 67 Film Festival Schedule................................................................................................ 68 Conference Exhibitors................................................................................................ 71 Advertising Index......................................................................................................... 73 Publishers...................................................................................................................... 74 Research Institutes and Fellowships....................................................................... 104 Gala Banquet Sponsors.............................................................................................. 123 Index of Participants................................................................................................. 135 Index to Sessions by Subject..................................................................................... 143 Association for Jewish Studies Founded in 1969, the Association for Jewish Studies is a learned society and professional organization that seeks to promote, maintain, and improve teaching, research, and related endeavors in Jewish studies in colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher learning. The Association for Jewish Studies is a constituent society of the American Council of Learned Societies. The Association holds an Annual Conference in December with sessions devoted to a wide variety of scholarly and professional matters. During each conference special interest groups, representing various disciplines within Jewish studies, meet to discuss subjects of particular concern to the participants. From time to time the Association has sponsored other scholarly and professional meetings. The regular publications of the Association are: AJS Review, a scholarly journal; AJS Perspectives, the magazine of the Association; and the online publication, Positions in Jewish Studies. In addition, the Association has published volumes of proceedings from its regional conferences on such subjects as medieval and mod- ern Jewish religion, Jewish languages, and Jewish folklore. In 1992, the Associa- A J tion published a catalog entitled: Jewish Studies Courses at American and Canadian S Universities. The AJS also maintains a website (www.ajsnet.org) with extensive M resources for Jewish studies scholars, including a positions listing, a directory of i Jewish studies programs and course syllabi, and a guide to grants. s s i o Membership in the Association, which currently stands at 1,600, is open to n individuals whose full-time vocation is teaching, research, or related endeavors in S academic Jewish studies; to other individuals whose intellectual concerns are re- t lated to the purposes of the Association; and to graduate students concentrating in a t an area of Jewish studies. Members receive all regular publications without charge e and are eligible for discounts on the registration fee at the Annual Conference. m e n t 4 AJS I M NSTITUTIONAL EMBERS Th e Association for Jewish Studies is pleased to announce the following Institutional Members for the 2007-08 membership year: Case Western Reserve University, Samuel Rosenthal Center for Judaic Studies The Center for Cultural Judaism Cornell University, Jewish Studies Program DePauw University, Jewish Studies Program Duke University, Department of Jewish Studies Foundation for Jewish Culture Georgetown University, Program for Jewish Civilization Hebrew College Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion Indiana University, Robert A. and Sandra S. Borns Jewish Studies Program The Jewish Theological Seminary, The Graduate School Louisiana State University, Jewish Studies Program Michigan State University, Jewish Studies Program New York University, Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies Northwestern University, The Crown Family Center for Jewish Studies The Ohio State University, Melton Center for Jewish Studies Pennsylvania State University, Jewish Studies Program Reconstructionist Rabbinical College Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies Stanford University, Taube Center for Jewish Studies UCLA, Center for Jewish Studies The University of Arizona, Arizona Center for Judaic Studies University of Connecticut, Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life University of Denver, Center for Judaic Studies University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Department of Judaic and s Near Eastern Studies r University of Michigan, The Frankel Center for Judaic Studies e University of North Carolina Asheville, Center for Jewish Studies b University of Oregon, Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies m University of Pittsburgh, Jewish Studies Program e University of Tennessee, The Fern and Manfred Steinfeld Program M in Judaic Studies The University of Texas at Austin, Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies l University of Virginia, Jewish Studies Program a University of Washington, Jewish Studies Program, Jackson School n of International Studies o United States Holocaust Memorial Museum i Vanderbilt University, Program in Jewish Studies t Washington University in St. Louis, Program in Jewish, Islamic, u and Near Eastern Studies t Yeshiva University i Yeshiva University Museum t YIVO Institute for Jewish Research s York University, Centre for Jewish Studies n I For further information on Institutional Membership, please contact Rona Sheramy, AJS Executive Director, at [email protected] or (917) 606-8249. 5 A J S SSOCIATION FOR EWISH TUDIES A Message from the Conference Chair December 2007 Dear Colleagues, I am delighted to present the program for the Th irty-ninth Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies. Th is year, the AJS holds its conference for the fi rst time in Toronto, Ontario. Th is represents the fi rst AJS annual meeting both outside of the United States and in Canada. As it has been for almost four decades, the annual conference is the most visible of the organization’s activities. Th e program refl ects a great deal of creative energy and hard work on the part of many people, and I want to thank all participants for what promises to be a series of rich and rewarding sessions and plenary events. As even a cursory peruse of the program will show you, the AJS Annual Conference continues to fl ourish. We received a record high number of submissions, a sign of the creativity and serious work in Jewish Studies. Th is year’s conference is the largest to date, with more sessions and more time slots than ever before. In order to facilitate your experience at the conference, I invite you to read the following information pertaining to program events and functions. HOTEL, REGISTRATION, BADGES, MEALS All sessions will be held at the Sheraton Centre Toronto in downtown Toronto. Floor plans on pages 14 - 17 of this Program Book show their location and arrangement. Th e Sessions at a Glance table on pages 18 - 22 provides a summary of events with their locations and times. If you have not as yet registered for the conference, you may do so on-site in Toronto at the Conference Registration Desk located on the Lower Level Concourse (you may pay by cash and check in USD, or by cash in CAD). Materials will also be available if you wish to renew or take out a new AJS membership for the 2007-2008 membership year. Badges and kosher meal confi rmations will be sent to U.S. and Canadian addresses for those who registered and paid all fees by the November 15 deadline. Attendees coming from outside North America: please pick up your badges and meal confi rmations at the AJS Registration M Desk. Badge covers will be available on-site. Please remember that conference badges must e be worn at all times for admission to the sessions and the Book Exhibit. Security personnel s at the entrance to the Exhibit and elsewhere in the hotel will be checking badges and will s a only admit those who have registered for the conference. g e ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING f I wish to remind you of the Annual AJS Business Meeting which takes place Sunday, r o December 16 at 8:30 am in the Sheraton A meeting room. All AJS members are invited m to participate. t h WELCOME RECEPTION AND ANNUAL GALA BANQUET e We thank the various institutions, foundations, and organizations that have generously C sponsored the Annual Gala Banquet on Sunday, December 16 at 6:45 pm (see page 37 o for a list of banquet sponsors). Please join us at 6:15 pm in the Grand Ballroom Foyer for n the Welcome Reception preceding the banquet. f e r PLENARY SPEAKER e Th is year the Program Committee has arranged for a very exciting plenary address that is n open to all conference participants and to the wider Toronto community. On Sunday, c e December 16 at 8:00 pm immediately following the Gala Banquet in the Grand Ballroom, our plenary event will feature Professor Irwin Cotler, P.C., O.C., M.P., legal scholar, C human rights activist, and former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. h a Professor Cotler will present a talk entitled “2008: Is it 1938 All Over Again?” i r 6 PERFORMANCES AND FILMS On Sunday evening at 9:15 pm in the Sheraton A meeting room, we are pleased to present Songs of the Sephardim and Th eir Diasporas, performed by Judith Cohen and Tamar Cohen Adams. Th is performance has been made possible by generous support from the Maurice Amado Foundation and is free and open to the public. Th anks to the sponsorship of the Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Maryland, the AJS conference will feature its fi rst fi lm series, running from Sunday, December 16 through Tuesday, December 18. Films of interest to Jewish studies scholars and teachers will be screened throughout session meeting times in the City Hall meeting room. Film information and the screening schedule can be found on pages 68 - 9 of the program book. Many thanks to Professor Bernard Cooperman for organizing the series. A special screening of the Canadian fi lm, Lies My Father Told Me (Jan Kadar, 1975) will take place Monday evening, December 17, at 9:00 pm in City Hall. POSTER SESSION Th e AJS is pleased to present a Poster Session on Monday, December 17 in Sheraton E. Th e poster session will feature more than twenty multi-media presentations by scholars across the fi eld of Jewish Studies. On December 17, posters will be on display from 9:30 am – 6:30 pm; scholars will be available to answer questions and discuss their research during the formal Poster Session hours of 10:30 am – 12:30 pm. A coff ee reception will be held in Sheraton E from 10:30 am – 11:15 am on December 17. SCHOLARS FROM EASTERN EUROPE Th e AJS wishes to again welcome the participation of several scholars from Eastern Europe in its annual conference as part of the AJS’s initiative to support and cooperate with Jewish studies programs in Eastern Europe. Th e AJS gratefully acknowledges the support of the Taube Foundation, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs of Poland, and a Friend of the AJS for underwriting the costs associated with the Travel Grant Program. CAUCUSES, MEETINGS, AND RECEPTIONS Th e AJS conference provides the opportunity for several caucuses, colloquia, and groups r to meet. Th ese special events include: the Works in Progress Group in Modern Jewish i Studies on Saturday, December 15 at 8:00 pm; the Directors of Jewish Studies meeting a h on Monday, December 17 from 4:30 – 6:30 pm; the annual AJS Women’s Caucus C Breakfast on Monday, December 17 from 7:00 – 8:30 am; the Sephardi/Mizrahi Caucus Lunch on Monday, December 17 from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m; and the AAJR Session, e c “How Relevant is Rabbinics to Judaic Studies,” on Monday, December 17 from 11:15 n am – 1:00 pm. Th e Center for Jewish History will be sponsoring two coff ee breaks open e to all conference attendees: on Monday, December 17 from 10:30 – 11:15 am and from r e 4:00 – 4:30 pm in the Book Exhibit Hall. For a list of other receptions open to all AJS f members, see pages 55 - 6. n o C EVENTS FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS AND EARLY CAREER SCHOLARS All graduate students are invited to a Graduate Student Reception held by the AJS in e their honor on Monday, December 17 at 6:30 pm in the Conference H meeting room. h t Th is event will provide graduate students the opportunity to meet informally and to speak with AJS administrative staff and board members. Recipients of the Dorot Travel Award, m generously sponsored by the Dorot Foundation, will also be introduced and honored at o r this gathering. f e g a s s e M 7 INTERVIEWS Th e AJS has set aside rooms where institutions may conduct job interviews in comfortable surroundings. AJS policy prohibits the use of private guest rooms for interviews and off ers confi dential scheduling of interviewing facilities for a minimal fee. Pre-reservation with the AJS offi ce is required. RELIGIOUS SERVICES Th e York and Conference H meeting rooms have been set aside at 3:45 pm on Sunday, 7:00 am and 3:45 pm on Monday, and 7:00 am on Tuesday to accommodate conference participants who wish to organize egalitarian and traditional religious services, respectively. CHILDCARE Th e Parents Childcare Co-op has made arrangements for Improv Care to provide aff ordable childcare during conference meeting hours. Childcare will take place in Spring Song and Spindrift on the fourth fl oor of the hotel. Pre-registration is required. For further information, please refer to page 9. Th e children’s program is funded by a generous grant from the Center for Cultural Judaism (www.culturaljudaism.org). Please note: the Parents Childcare Co-op is an independent initiative and is not sponsored by nor affi liated with the Association for Jewish Studies. Th e Association for Jewish Studies assumes no liability for the use of these services. A PERSONAL NOTE I would like to extend my warmest welcome to you, the members of the AJS and participants in this year’s program. As always, I am delighted to see friends and colleagues of long- standing—veterans of the AJS conference—and take particular pleasure in welcoming new members and those attending the conference for the fi rst time. Th e organization, and particularly this 39th Annual Conference, refl ects the best of your eff orts. Th e conference provides us with the opportunity to present our scholarship to teach others and to learn about new developments in all fi elds of Jewish Studies. Th e formal sessions, as well as the informal discussions with colleagues and friends, nourish our scholarly work and energize our teaching. I would like to express a special thanks to Sara Horowitz, President of the AJS, M for her support, and to Rona Sheramy, Executive Director of the AJS, for her dedicated and invaluable attention to all aspects of the program. I also thank Kristen Loveland, AJS e s Administrative Assistant; Karin Kugel, AJS Program Book and website designer; and Aviva s Androphy, AJS Program Assistant, for their hard work and attention to detail. I especially a g want to thank the people who helped in the diffi cult task of determining the conference e program: the Division Heads for their attention to the proposals in their own fi elds and f for their creative work putting sessions together, and the Program Committee for its ideas r and for its excellent advice about proposals, sessions, and the conference as a whole. I also o m want to thank Program Committee members Paula Hyman and Eric Lawee for helping to determine the recipients of the Dorot graduate travel grants. Enjoy the conference. Please t feel free to contact me with suggestions for next year’s program. h e Sincerely, C Marsha Rozenblit o n Vice President for Program f e r e n c e C h a i r 8 I C I MPORTANT ONFERENCE NFORMATION C F ONFERENCE ACILITIES Sheraton Centre Toronto, 123 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario Phone: (416) 361-1000 | Reservations: (888) 627-7175 | starwood.webcanada.com/sct Located in the fi nancial and entertainment district of Toronto, the CAA/AAA Four Diamond Sheraton Centre Toronto is connected to PATH, a 16-mile underground network of shops and services. Shopping, theatre, dining, and Toronto’s best attractions are steps away. Th e hotel also features a fi tness room, spa, business centre, and guestroom internet access (for fee). C HILDCARE Th e Parents Childcare Co-op has made arrangements for Improv Care, a Toronto-based company, to provide aff ordable childcare during conference meeting hours. Childcare will take place in Springsong/Spindrift on the fourth fl oor. Pre-registration is required. Th e children’s program is funded by a generous grant from the Center for Cultural Judaism. Contact Andrea Lieber at [email protected], (717) 245-1482 to register. For further information, see www.improvcare.ca. Please note: the Parents Childcare Co-op is an independent initiative and is not sponsored by nor affi liated with the Association for Jewish Studies. s Th e Association for Jewish Studies assumes no liability for use of these services. l i V T a ISITING ORONTO t Th e AJS website has extensive information about visiting Toronto, including e transportation to and from the airport, cultural sites and activities, and kosher and D vegetarian restaurants near the hotel. Please see www.ajsnet.org/toronto.htm for details. e c NEXT YEAR: n T 40 A C e HE TH NNUAL ONFERENCE OF THE r A J S SSOCIATION FOR EWISH TUDIES e December 21‒23, 2008 at the Grand Hyatt Washington, f Washington, D.C. n o C 9 Thank you to the 2007 P C ROGRAM OMMITTEE Marsha L. Rozenblit, University of Eric Lawee, York University Maryland, Chair Pamela S. Nadell, American University Calvin Goldscheider, James E. Young, University of Brown University Massachusetts-Amherst Christine Hayes, Yale University Shira Kohn, New York University, Judith Hauptman, Jewish Student Representative Th eological Seminary ex-offi cio: Gershon Hundert, McGill University Sara R. Horowitz, York University Paula Hyman, Yale University Rona Sheramy, Association for Jewish Studies and to the 2007 D C IVISION OORDINATORS Bible Linguistics, Semiotics, MODERN JEWISH Hindy Najman and Philology LITERATURE University of Toronto Benjamin Hary Wendy Zierler Steven Weitzman Emory University HUC-JIR Indiana University Medieval and Early MODERN JEWISH Gender Studies Modern Jewish History, THOUGHT AND THEOLOGY Chava Weissler Literature, and Culture Zachary J. Braiterman Lehigh University David Berger Syracuse University Brooklyn College, CUNY Holocaust Studies INTERDISCIPLINARY AND OTHER Jack Kugelmass Medieval Jewish Marsha L. Rozenblit C University of Florida Philosophy University of Maryland o Daniel Frank n Israel Studies Purdue University SEPHARDI/MIZRAHI f S. Ilan Troen STUDIES e Brandeis University/ Modern Hebrew Norman Stillman r Ben Gurion University Literature University of Oklahoma e of the Negev Barbara Mann n Jewish Th eological Seminary SOCIAL SCIENCES, ANTHRO- c Jewish History in POLOGY, AND FOLKLORE e Late Antiquity Modern Jewish History Shaul Kelner Michael Swartz in Europe, ASIA, ISRAEL, Vanderbilt University C Th e Ohio State AND OTHER COMMUNITIES o University Derek Penslar TALMUD, MIDRASH, AND m University of Toronto RABBINICS Jewish Mysticism Azzan Yadin m Lawrence Fine MODERN JEWISH HISTORY Rutgers University i Mount Holyoke College IN THE AMERICAS t Hasia R. Diner YIDDISH LITERATURE t Jews and the Arts New York University Kathryn Hellerstein e Carol Zemel University of Pennsylvania e York University s 10