CAJM 2026 - Call for Session Proposals

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Monday, February 9, 2026

2026 CAJM Conference, June 15 - 17, 2026

Welcome!

Facing the Future: Museums as Catalysts for Connection & Change

PLEASE NOTE: CAJM does not cover travel expenses or provide honoraria for panelists. We are fundraising to establish a fellowship and scholarship track, through which limited speaker support may be available.

Conference Direction & Focus: Detroit is a city shaped by innovation, resilience, and reinvention, we will explore how museums can confront the defining challenges of our time—from rising antisemitism and social fragmentation to new opportunities for collaboration, creativity, and renewed public trust. Together, we will spark connections that honor our histories while actively shaping the future of our field.

Guiding Ideals:

Hope and honesty in equal measure
Innovation does not emerge from optimism alone. It requires candid engagement with real challenges, structural constraints, and difficult questions—paired with the courage to imagine and build what comes next.

Detroit as a learning landscape
Detroit’s legacy of industry, migration, creativity, and reinvention—alongside a complex history that includes antisemitism—offers powerful terrain for examining how museums confront difficult legacies, repair trust, and model new ways forward.

Museums as catalysts
Museums are not neutral containers; they are civic agents. This convening explores how institutions foster connection, deepen understanding, and lead with purpose in a rapidly shifting cultural landscape.

Call for Proposals Overview: This conference intentionally brings together Jewish museums, Holocaust organizations, and allied cultural institutions. While missions and collections may reflect different emphases, we share a commitment to historical integrity, ethical responsibility, and meaningful public engagement.

Proposals should honor distinct institutional frameworks while exploring points of connection—particularly around antisemitism, memory, education, community trust, and relevance.

We welcome sessions that:
- Engage Jewish life, culture, and creativity alongside Holocaust history and education
- Explore moments of overlap, tension, or dialogue between these fields
- Foster learning across institutional types without flattening complexity
- Proposals should be legible, respectful, and valuable to a mixed audience.
Conference Session Format & Proposal Instructions
Proposal Description: Up to 250 words

Conference sessions are typically 60 minutes and can be facilitated panels, roundtables, workshops, labs, or other interactive formats. Proposals should prioritize dialogue, reflection, and application over lecture-only presentations.

Each proposal should select one conference track that fits the session’s focus.

Proposal Review Criteria & Core Components: Proposals will be reviewed by a subcommittee of the CAJM Conference Committee and Board. We welcome proposals from emerging professionals, first-time presenters, and colleagues from small or under-resourced institutions. Senior titles are not required—strong proposals are grounded in insight, reflection, and relevance.

Successful proposals will include:
- Clear session focus: A concise articulation of the challenge, question, or opportunity—and why it matters now.
- Alignment with the conference theme: Explicit connection to Facing the Future: Museums as Catalysts for Connection & Change.
- Defined outcomes for participants: What attendees will learn, gain, or be able to apply in their own institutions.
- Field relevance and transferability: Insights that extend beyond a single institution and offer adaptable frameworks or lessons.
- Engaged session design: Interactive and dialogic formats are strongly preferred. Lecture-only or “sage on the stage” presentations are discouraged.
- Diverse perspectives and voices: Representation across institution size, geography, role, career stage, and lived experience.
Conference Track (Select One)
1. Collections & Archives – Stewardship, digitization, conservation
2. Education & Interpretation – Learning programs, exhibitions, visitor experience
3. Jewish History & Holocaust Narratives – Regional Jewish history, Holocaust education, integrated models
4. Community Engagement & Belonging – Partnerships, dialogue, audience diversity
5. Leadership & Organizational Resilience – Governance, strategy, operations, wellness
6. Advocacy, Development & Partnerships – Fundraising, policy engagement, alliances
7. Marketing & Communications – Storytelling, branding, outreach
8. Technology & Innovation – Digital tools, experimental formats
9. Small Museums & Adaptive Models – Scale-appropriate practices, sustainability
Sample Panel Session (Example Only) - Download to read
Point of Contact: For additional information or technical assistance with submitting this form, please contact our Program Manager, Margalit Schindler at communications@cajm.net. Please keep in mind they work PT hours (Mon - 11AM - 2PM // Tue/Thu 8:30–12 noon; Pacific Time). Outside hours, replies may take 1–2 days. For urgent matters, please text. Plan accordingly when submitting the form.

To Apply: Click on the "next" button to complete the following questionnaire.
Session Lead Contact Information

Name of the person submitting this proposal
Full Name*

First NameLast Name
Job Title*
Organization*
Write "None" if you are an individual.
Address

Street Address

Street Address Line 2

CityState / Province

Zip CodeCountry
Phone Number

Area CodePhone Number
E-mail*
For additional information or technical assistance with submitting this form, please contact our CAJM Program Manager, Margalit Schindler at communications@cajm.net. Please keep in mind they work PT hours (Mon - 11AM - 2PM // Tue/Thu 8:30–12 noon; Pacific Time). Outside hours, replies may take 1–2 days. Plan accordingly when submitting the form.

We are requesting at least two presenters for each session.

Please provide info on all presentation members.
PRESENTER#1:
Full Name*
Job Title*
Organization or Affiliation*
Email Address*
Personal/Cell Phone
Work Phone
Experience (What conference sessions, presentations, and/or classes have you led in the past?)*
Are you a CAJM or AHO Member Y/N? (If 'yes' please share CAJM or AHO)*
Please attach a concise biography (word file format) or an abbreviated CV*

Upload a File

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Add Presenter #2:

YesNo
Full Name
Title
Organization or Affiliation
Email Address
Experience (What conference sessions, presentations, and/or classes has this speaker led in the past?)
Are you a CAJM or AHO Member Y/N? (If 'yes' please share CAJM or AHO)
Add Presenter #3:

YesNo
Full Name
Job Title
Organization or Affiliation
Email Address
Experience (What conference sessions, presentations, and/or classes has this speaker led in the past?)
Are you a CAJM or AHO Member Y/N? (If 'yes' please share CAJM or AHO)
Add Presenter #4:

YesNo
Full Name
Title
Organization or Affiliation
Email Address
Experience (What conference sessions, presentations, and/or classes has this speaker led in the past?)
Are you a CAJM or AHO Member Y/N? (If 'yes' please share CAJM or AHO)
Add Presenter #5:

YesNo
Full Name
Job Title
Email Address
Organization or Affiliation
Work Phone
Experience (What conference sessions, presentations, and/or classes has this speaker led in the past?)
Are you a CAJM or AHO Member Y/N? (If 'yes' please share CAJM or AHO)

Proposed Session Title:

Session titles are like newspaper headlines; they should clearly illustrate your idea. Your panel discussion or workshop title describes the attributes of attending and summarize the main point of your session.

Important Tips:
- Consider writing the title after identifying the session description/summary and learning objectives.
- Keep your proposed title short (10 words or less).
What is your proposed workshop title (this will appear in the agenda for the conference). Choose one.*
Session Description/Summary of Your Proposed Idea

Tips for a Strong Submission: Reminder, we welcome proposals from emerging professionals, first-time presenters, and colleagues from small or under-resourced institutions. Senior titles are not required—strong proposals are grounded in insight, reflection, and relevance.
- Let the motivation lead; credentials can follow: Reviewers prioritize relevance and insight over institutional prestige.
- Name the challenge honestly: Proposals that acknowledge tension, failure, or uncertainty often stand out.
- Be specific: Concrete examples outperform vague promises of “conversation” or “dialogue.”
- Design for attendee; Ask: What will someone do differently when they return to their institution because they attended this session?
- Signal collaboration: Multi-institutional and cross-disciplinary approaches are especially compelling.
- Engaged session design: Interactive and dialogic formats are strongly preferred. Lecture-only or “sage on the stage” presentations are discouraged.
Final note: If you’re unsure whether your idea is “conference-ready,” submit anyway. Proposal review is an invitation into conversation—not a test.
Session Description/Summary Description (250 words max - this will appear in the agenda for the conference)*

Session Track Area and CAJM Conference Guiding Ideals:

For your convenience and for ease of sorting, we have provided a list of issue areas or session tracks and CAJM Conference guiding ideals to choose from. We also provided an “other” category for those topics that do not neatly fit into a prescribed subject area but are pertinent, nonetheless. While most sessions have one distinct subject area, up to three areas can be selected from each of the drop-down list. This section is very important as it will allow the CAJM subcommittee to strategically narrow down the topics to ensure core issue areas and CAJM tenants are covered in the conference agenda.
What session track or issue area does your proposal fall under? Choose one.*
What CAJM conference guiding ideals does your session align with the most?*
Session Learning Objectives:

A learning objective establishes what session attendees should be familiar with or able to do by the end of the session. Please prepare up to two (2) learning objectives.

Important Tips:
- A learning objective makes clear the intended learning outcome.
- Valuable learning objectives focus on the application and integration of the knowledge and skills attained.
What are up to two(2) learning objectives you have for the session?*

Proposed Session Format:

Please select your preferred workshop format from the dropdown menu. Below, please find brief descriptions for each suggested format option

Panel Discussion: The panel format usually involves up to five panelists (including the moderator) commenting on a specific topic or issue in a discussion led by a moderator.

Fishbowl: Fishbowls involve a small group of people (usually 5-8) seated in a circle, having a conversation in full view of a larger group of listeners. Fishbowl processes provide a creative way to include all workshop attendees in a small group discussion. Fishbowls are useful for ventilating “hot topics” or sharing ideas or information from a variety of perspectives. More often, one or more chairs are open to “visitors” (i.e., members of the audience) who want to ask questions or make comments. Although largely self-organizing, the fishbowl process usually has a facilitator or moderator who starts the discussion. The fishbowl is almost always part of a larger process of dialogue and deliberation.

Workshop: Workshops are an interactive, participatory method for learning or problem-solving that emphasizes hands-on activities, collaboration, and skill-building within a structured framework.

Talking Circle Leader: Act as a neutral facilitator guiding a small group conversation, manages group dynamics, and ensures all participants contribute effectively toward the agreed-upon goals. It is a structured conversational process intended to facilitate open and intimate discussion, and link ideas within the smaller group to main conference themes to access the collective wisdom in the room.

Performance or Interactive Session: Offer a creative concept including storytelling, music, visual art, or movement. Join our “Culture Crew” and help us imagine ways to create moments, dedicated spaces, or sessions that foster unique creative engagement.
What is your preferred session format? Choose one.*

Session Logistics:
Target attendees (please select the audiences that would find this session relevant and useful):*
For additional information or technical assistance with this form, please contact our Program Manager, Margalit Schindler, at communications@cajm.net. Please note that they work part-time (Mon 11:00 AM–2:00 PM; Tue/Thu 8:30 AM–12:00 PM, Pacific Time), and responses outside of those hours may take 1–2 business days. We recommend planning accordingly when submitting your form.

Once you have completed the form and filled in all required fields, please submit it using the button below. You will see a confirmation message indicating that your submission has been successfully received. You will also automatically receive a copy of your submission at the email address provided at the beginning of this form.

The CAJM team will contact you on or before Friday, February 27, 2026 regarding the status of your proposal.

Thank you!
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2026 CAJM Conference, June 15 - 17, 2026

Welcome!

Facing the Future: Museums as Catalysts for Connection & Change

Guiding Ideals:

Session Lead Contact Information