Lessons and Legacies
HEFNU at 50: Contexts, Connections, and (Dis)Continuities
Lessons and Legacies of the Holocaust XVIII
Chicago, 12-15 November 2026
CALL FOR PAPERS
The year 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of the Holocaust Educational Foundation of Northwestern University (HEFNU). Founded in 1976 by Holocaust survivor and educator Theodore Zev Weiss and his wife Alice, HEFNU has grown into a diverse scholarly community, fostering regional, national, and international partnerships. Since its inception in November 1989, the Foundation's biennial Lessons and Legacies conference has become the premier international forum for scholarly discussion and the exchange of cutting-edge research on the Holocaust.
Over the past half-century, the study of the history, (post)memory, and representations of the Holocaust has evolved into a dynamic transnational, multi-disciplinary, and multilingual field, enriched by its connections with diverse areas of inquiry. These intersections have broadened and opened new avenues for research and teaching, particularly as the field navigates the (dis)continuities that are emerging as we move into a post-survivor world. The importance and ethical implications of our work have been underscored and called into question by pressures on and challenges to Holocaust education and research, including the distortion, denial, and instrumentalization of the Holocaust, the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence and new media, as well as the resurgence of authoritarianism and virulent nationalism in the lands scarred by the Holocaust and in places that were once refuges from it. The eighteenth Lessons and Legacies Conference invites scholars to reflect on the contexts, connections, and (dis)continuities that have shaped, and continue to shape, our knowledge and understandings of the Holocaust.
The conference theme aims to open a comparative and integrated discussion of how the Holocaust can be understood as historically embedded yet universally relevant. Context could be interpreted, for example, as geographic, linguistic, temporal, discursive, socio-political, or metaphoric, while connections could imply relations across space and time from the micro to the macro. Continuities and discontinuities emphasize consistencies and shifts or ruptures, both latitudinally and longitudinally. At this moment of apparent (dis)continuity in academia and the wider world, we hope to create space for a range of discussions that advance Holocaust education and research, and connect it to the past, present, and future.
We invite proposals for individual papers, full panels, workshops, and seminars that address the broad themes of contexts, connections, and (dis)continuities as they relate to the Holocaust of European Jews, Roma, and other victim groups. We encourage interdisciplinary approaches and diverse methodological perspectives from scholars at all career stages and across all relevant fields. Because we aim to explore new ways of approaching the Holocaust, we ask that proposals focus on research that has not been presented at previous Lessons and Legacies conferences.
Submission Deadline: Monday, December 15, 2025.
Conference sessions include several formats, as outlined below:
For individual papers and full panel proposals, we welcome the trend toward increasingly collaborative work and are happy to acknowledge co-authors, but for logistical issues of hotel space, presentation time, and limited financial assistance for presenters, we ask that only one author submit a proposal and, if accepted, present a paper.
Individual Papers will be organized into panels by the conference chairs. Paper proposals should include a title and abstract (up to 300 words) and a short (1–2 pages) CV. Submit an individual paper proposal here.
Full Panels will consist of three or four papers and a chair/moderator. One member of the proposed panel should submit a brief description of the full session (up to 300 words) here. In addition, each individual presenter should submit an abstract (up to 300 words) and a short CV (1–2 pages) here. The conference committee will assign a chair/moderator to accepted panels that do not already have one.
Workshops consisting of one or two presenters should focus on particular questions, approaches, or sources. Workshops are intended to be interactive and practical, highlighting, for example, a new pedagogical approach or research question or method, curricular innovations, or creative ways to examine and interpret artifacts or texts both in research and the classroom. The conference committee will prioritize proposals centered on participation and discussion. Workshop proposals should include a title and abstract (up to 300 words) and a short CV (1–2 pages) of each presenter. Submit a workshop proposal here.
Seminars may be proposed by 2-3 scholars. Seminars bring together a diverse group of up to 12 scholars at various career levels for three meetings over the course of the conference for sustained exploration of a question or problem. Participants will discuss a common list of readings and/or position papers made available before the conference. Seminar proposals should include a title and abstract (up to 300 words) and a short (1–2 pages) CV of the organizers. Submit a seminar proposal here.
Note: Conference organizers will issue a call for applications for seminar participation in Spring 2026. Seminar papers must be available to post by 1 September 2026. Seminars can be designated as open or closed to auditors, at the discretion of the seminar organizer. We encourage open seminars but appreciate that in certain cases there are good rationales for keeping a seminar closed to non-participants.
All proposals should be submitted online by Monday, December 15, 2025, via the Lessons and Legacies Oxford Abstracts Portal (please note that you will need to create a login and password):
Individual Paper Submissions
Full Panel Paper Submissions and Full Panel Descriptions
Workshop Submissions
Seminar Submissions
Please direct questions to: hef@northwestern.edu
We expect to notify applicants about committee decisions in March 2026.
Travel Grants for L&L 2026
To the extent possible, financial assistance for conference presenters will be provided. Priority for financial support will be given to scholars who would otherwise not be able to attend, particularly graduate students, independent scholars, faculty at teaching-oriented colleges not offering research support, and scholars living outside the United States with unusually high travel costs. Instructions for funding applications will be posted once the conference program is finalized.
Conference Co-Chairs: Sandra Alfers and Benjamin Frommer
Conference Co-Hosts: Brad Prager and Alice Weinreb
Workshop and Seminar Coordinator: Laurie Marhoefer