CfP, ‘Jews and Quakers: Prejudice and Privilege’ (29-30 June, 2020)

29^th-30^th June 2020: Jews and Quakers Conference ‘Prejudice and Privilege’ 

 Keynote Speakers

Professor Shirli Gilbert        Professor of Modern Jewish History, UCL, London

Dr. Benjamin J. Wood         Woodbrooke Centre for Research in Quaker Studies, Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Religion and Public Life at the University of Leeds.

Call for proposals 

In June 2020, the Centre for Research in Quaker Studies is hosting a 24-hour multidisciplinary conference on ‘Jews and Quakers: Prejudice and Privilege’, at Woodbrooke in Birmingham, UK. This follows the successful 2017 conference ‘Jews and Quakers: on the borders of acceptability’, held at the University of Sussex. We invite proposals for short papers (20 minutes paper + 10 minutes question and answer) or panels (two to four short papers) to be offered at this conference.

Religious prejudice and privilege manifest in multiple ways in our society and our lives. Antisemitism is unfortunately common in Britain today, and Quakers are not immune from it. Historically, some Quakers have experienced brief periods of persecution, but most now experience the privileges which come with being part of the majority Christian culture. Jewish and Quaker identities are intersectional – they are only one aspect of a person’s identity, and gender, class, race, age, sexuality, disability, etc. may affect what it is like to be Quaker or Jewish (or both).

We would be pleased to receive proposals for papers or panels on this theme, including but not limited to proposals on the following indicative topics:

• Analysis of historical or contemporary cases of religious prejudice, against or within the Jewish and/or Quaker communities

• Analysis of historical or contemporary cases of religious privilege, experienced by Quaker and/or Jewish communities, or ways in which members of those communities experience both some forms of privilege and some form of oppression at the same time

• Philosophical or theoretical explorations of prejudice and/or privilege which use examples from Jewish and/or Quaker communities as case studies

•     Considerations of the complexity of religious identity with reference to any form of intersectional oppression or privilege (e.g. the relationship of Judaism and/or Quakerism to whiteness; feminism and/or trans rights in Quakerism and/or Judaism; class position in relation to Judaism and/or Quakerism, the effects, if any, of being identified as secular or non-theist in the context of either community)

To submit a proposal, please send a 250 word abstract of your paper or panel to rhiannon.grant@woodbrooke.org.uk by midnight on Monday 9^th March 2020.

We welcome postgraduate and early career researchers, women and gender minorities, scholars of colour, and other underrepresented groups. If you are uncertain and would like to discuss your idea before submitting, please contact us.

General bookings for the conference will open soon via https://www.woodbrooke.org.uk/

Accessibility notes: Most of Woodbrooke is accessible to wheelchair users, loop system users, and people with other disabilities, and we are happy to discuss your specific needs in advance. We may be able to provide or signpost attendees to financial support for the costs associated with attending. We are not able to provide childcare for this event.

Conference website: https://jewsandquakers.wordpress.com