Call for Papers: Counting Families, Controlling Lives: Jewish Demography, Family and State Policy in Central Europe

Call for Papers:

Counting Families, Controlling Lives:

Jewish Demography, Family and State Policy in Central Europe

 

CEU, Budapest Campus

May 4-6, 2027

 

Organized by 

The Association for Central European Jewish History and Genealogy (CEJHG) In partnership with the Center for Jewish Studies at Central European University (CEU) and the Hungarian Jewish Museum and Archives. 

The Association for Central European Jewish History and Genealogy (CEJHG), in cooperation with the Center for Jewish Studies at Central European University (CEU) and the Hungarian Jewish Museum and Archives, is organizing an international conference: “Counting Families, Controlling Lives: Jewish Demography, Family, and State Policy in Central Europe,” which will take place at the Budapest Campus of Central European University on 4-6 May 2027.

This year’s conference will investigate the rich and complex history of Jewish communities in the lands of the former Habsburg Empire and its successor states by combining traditional historical research with genealogical methodologies and digital tools. This interdisciplinary approach allows scholars to reconstruct family networks, community structures, migration patterns, cross-border relations, social mobility, citizenship and restored citizenship, and holocaust studies, offering new insights into Jewish life in Central Europe.

The conference, which coincides with the 300th anniversary of the Familiantengesetze in the Habsburg monarchy, will devote several panels to state policies that aimed to reduce or limit Jewish population growth and their wider impact on Jewish family trajectories and life decisions across Central Europe. This topic pertains to all Habsburg lands, especially until 1848, but its impact on Jewish demography and geopolitics is felt long afterwards in a global way.

The conference will also highlight Holocaust related research, within the scope of the double axis of history and genealogy, reconstructing prewar family histories, and connecting archival evidence with descendant knowledge.

Our approach is interdisciplinary, and we welcome proposals for papers from researchers in all relevant fields. We welcome the following themes and topics: Judaica Provenance; Restriction on Jewish numbers and its effects; persecution and exile; Cross-border family networks in Greater Hungary; community structures and inter-community relations; Genealogical tools and digital databases for historical research in the age of AI; the connection between Genealogical Research and Behavioral studies or psychology; and Genealogy as a tool for education.

This is the second conference dedicated to Jewish History and Genealogy in Central Europe, consolidating this emerging international research community, following a successful first international conference in Vienna in May 2026, which brought together 110 historians, genealogists, archivists, and researchers from around the world to explore new interdisciplinary approaches to the study of Jewish life in Central Europe. Our 2027 conference is another step towards a sustained ecosystem for scholarly collaboration, source-sharing and an opportunity to get together.

Please submit paper proposals of 200-300 words, together with a brief CV, in the form below by November 15th, 2026. 

A few things to know:

• The conference will take place on May 4-6, 2027 at CEU, Budapest Campus.
• All proposals will undergo peer review.
• The conference language is English.
• All conference speakers are required to be CEJHG members.
• Speakers will benefit from a reduced conference participation fee.
• The conference officially begins at 9 AM on 4 May 2027, with an informal social event planned for the evening before.
• Conference lectures and panels will be recorded on video, and shared on the CEJHG's website and social media.
• Selected papers are planned for publication in a peer-reviewed Journal.

Learn more and submit your proposal: https://cejhg.org/en/call-for-papers-cejhg/