Who We Are
The Jewish American and Holocaust Literature Association (JAHLit) is a subsidiary organization of the American Literature Association. Comprised of an international body of scholars, JAHLit convenes a selective annual symposium, which typically consists of a Sunday evening keynote and reception followed by two full days of panels and programs within a single shared space. Participants range from senior scholars and emeriti faculty to graduate students and represent a variety of different backgrounds and fields of expertise – from literary studies to film and new media.
As of 2025, JAHLit has found a new home in New Orleans, LA, a city shaped by its own history of migration, resilience, and cultural hybridity.
Under the directorship of Golan Moskowitz, Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies and a core faculty member of Tulane University’s Stuart and Suzanne Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience, JAHLit remains committed to its mission of providing an intimate professional context for respectful, rigorous engagement between academics of different career stages- from graduate students and independent scholars to professors emeriti. It also aims to grow in new directions, inviting more perspectives on “the Americas” in a broader sense, including Jewish Caribbean and Jewish Latin American works.
JAHLit welcomes diverse understandings of what constitutes a “text,” inviting additional participation from scholars working in the adjacent fields of film, performance, theater, media studies, the digital humanities, and beyond.
Thank you in advance for your support and open-mindedness as JAHLit enters this next chapter. We look forward to rewarding conversations and spirited gatherings in this culturally rich city of New Orleans!
Mission
JAHLit provides an intimate and professional context for presenting new research, discussing key ideas and questions in the field, and fostering collegial relationships. Our model focuses on continuity, depth, and community-building by inviting a relatively small number of participants and by situating those participants around the same shared table throughout each symposium’s duration. Bringing established scholars into sustained dialogue with emerging voices over the course of two full days, our symposium enables mentoring, as well as the broadening of entrenched approaches with newer ideas. Against ideological polarization and political dogmatism, we also strive to create an environment in which scholars of varied standpoints engage with each other respectfully and sensitively.
History
The current iteration of JAHLit follows fifteen years of commendable leadership by Holli Levitsky and Monica Osborne. JAHLit was originally founded in 1995 by Alan Berger, Gloria Cronin, and Dan Walden with the goal of offering substantive seminar-style interaction among academics of different career stages, from advanced graduate students to senior scholars. Before moving to New Orleans under Golan Moskowitz’s leadership (2025-), JAHLit’s symposia took place in Boca Raton, FL (1996-2008), Salt Lake City, UT (2009-2012), and South Beach, Florida (2013-2024).
Executive Board
Victoria Aarons
Sarah Casteel
Josh Lambert
Phyllis Lassner
Holli Levitsky
Monica Osborne
Maeera Shreiber
Contact
Please see the “FAQ” and “Symposium” tabs for more information about JAHLit and our next meeting.
For further inquiries: jahlitcontact@gmail.com
