Innovation: 2026 Emerging Scholarship Conference

Call for Papers

Innovation: 2026 Emerging Scholarship Conference

November 19–20, 2026 | Denver, Colorado, and Online

The Catholic Biblical Association of America (CBA) invites proposals for the fourth annual Innovation: Emerging Scholarship Conference, an international hybrid event for Ph.D. candidates and postdoctoral scholars. Held online and in Denver, Colorado, the conference provides emerging scholars with a collegial setting in which to present innovative research, receive substantive feedback, and develop their ideas through sustained scholarly discussion.

The conference will begin at 10:00 am MT on Thursday, November 19, and conclude at 12:00 pm MT on Friday, November 20. Meals and refreshments throughout the conference, as well as housing for the night of November 17, will be provided for in-person participants.

Rather than following a conventional presentation format, the conference is designed to foster sustained conversation about emerging research. Participants will read the submitted papers in advance, allowing each session to focus on the papers’ arguments, methods, implications, and potential for further development. Each two-hour session will feature four emerging scholars and two senior scholar respondents. Following brief, five-minute introductions from each presenter and respondent, the remainder of the session will be devoted to extended discussion among all participants. Those accepted to the conference are expected to attend and participate actively in every session of the event.

The conference welcomes proposals from doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers working in biblical studies and related fields, including Tanakh and LXX, Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls and Qumran studies, New Testament and early Christianity, Rabbinic literature, or other related areas of ancient Judaism and Christianity. Scholars from all backgrounds are welcome to attend the conference and participate in its discussions.

Proposals of 250–500 words must be submitted by September 28, 2026. Applicants will be notified of acceptance by October 9, 2026. Completed papers, not exceeding 6,000 words including notes, must be submitted by November 9, 2026 so that participants have sufficient time to read them before the conference. Applicants do not need to be CBA members to apply or present. 

Selected papers may be invited for publication in the conference proceedings, extending the conversation and making this emerging research available to a wider scholarly audience.

For registration information and instructions for submitting proposals and papers, please contact the organizing committee through Dr. Joshua Scott, Conference Secretary, at (events@cba-site.org).