The virtual 2024 Farbindungen Yiddish Studies Conference, Shtumer alef: Beginnings, Silences, Partnerships, has concluded! Thank you to all who submitted a proposal for papers and workshops for this year's conference, thanks to our faculty moderators, and many thanks to our engaged and thoughtful audience members.

The 2024 keynote address and many 2024 conference paper recordings are soon to be available on our YouTube page.

Presented by the Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Jewish Studies Program Johns Hopkins University, the Farbindungen / פֿאַרבינדונגען Yiddish Studies Conference took place virtually on Sunday, February 18th and Monday, February 19th, 2024. 

In our third gathering, Farbindungen 2024: Shtumer Alef / שטומער אַלף, we aimed to bring together graduate students, advanced undergraduates, and early career professionals to look towards the futures of Yiddish and Yiddish Studies. Through a keynote address, interactive workshops, and moderated paper panels, participants were invited to study, envision, and build the future of the field.

Conference Theme: Shtumer alef: Beginnings, Silences, Partnerships / שטומער אַלף׃ אָנהײבן, שװײַגענישן ,שותּפֿותן

Keynote speakers: Amanda (Miryem-Khaye) Seigel and Ayelet Brinn (University of Hartford)

Keynote moderator: Joseph Reisberg (Johns Hopkins University)

Workshop facilitators: Rebecca Weingart (Washington University in St. Louis), and Hinde Ena Burstin (Monash University)

Faculty moderators: Mindl Cohen (Yiddish Book Center), Sonia Gollance (University College London), Shachar Pinsker (University of Michigan), Sam Shuman (Davidson College), Miriam Udel (Emory University), and Saul Zarit (Harvard University)

Presenters: Eyshe Beirich (Columbia University), Carolyn Beard (University of Toronto), Jowita Pańczyk (Tel-Aviv University), Maya Gonzalez (Yiddish Book Center), Aleksandra Guja (Jagiellonian University), Tyler Kliem (University of Pennsylvania), Hannah Wickham (University of Toronto), Bluma Lange (Independent Scholar), Daniel Kraft (Independent Scholar), Magali Cécile Bertrand (University of Lausanne), Sigal Yona (Ghent University), Qiushi Yu (Johns Hopkins University), Auden Finch (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf), Jules Riegel (Harvard University), Jacqueline Krass (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Chana Toth-Sewell (University of Chicago), Käthe Erichsen (Johns Hopkins University), Roman Hardashuk (Kyiv-Mohyla Academy / Independent scholar), Amanda Gordon (New York University), Jake Schneider (Independent Scholar), and Rebecca Turner (Northwestern University)

Organizing committee chairs: Sophia Shoulson (Johns Hopkins University) and Caleb Sher (Yiddish Book Center)

Organizing committee: Corbin Allardice (Johns Hopkins University), Alona Bach (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Carolyn Beard (University of Toronto), Eyshe Beirich (Columbia University), Cameron Bernstein (University of Queensland-Oschner Medical Program), Sarah Biskowitz (Jewish Womens Archive), Sophie Cardin (University of Oxford), Anita Christensen (Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society), Jacob Hermant (University of Toronto), Joseph Reisberg (Johns Hopkins), Tetiana Shyshkina (Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), Sean Sidky (Indiana University Bloomington), Hannah MJB Wickham (University of Toronto), Dalia Wolfson (Harvard University), and Jakub Zygmunt (University of Warsaw)

Faculty advisors: Samuel Spinner, Zelda and Myer Tandetnik Chair in Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture and Neta Stahl, director of the Stulman Program and head of the Hebrew and Yiddish Subdivision of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures