The Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry (ASSJ) is a cross-disciplinary organization of individuals whose research concerns the Jewish people throughout the world, founded in 1971.[1]
Purpose
The ASSJ comprises primarily academics, but also policy analysts, communal professionals, and activists whose research concerns the Jewish people throughout the world. Social scientific disciplines represented include sociology, social psychology, social anthropology, demography, contemporary history, social work, political science, economics, and Jewish education. Members work throughout the world but primarily in North America, Israel, and Europe.[2]
The ASSJ encourages and facilitates contact among researchers, supports the dissemination of research, and assists in the cultivation of younger scholars.[2]
Past presidents
- Mervin F. Verbit (1971-1973)[3]
- Marshall Sklare (1973-1975)
- Samuel Klausner (1975-1977)
- Celia Heller (1977-1979)
- Chaim Waxman (1979-1981)
- Harold Himmelfarb (1981-1983)
- Egon Mayer (1983-1988)
- Rela Mintz Geffen (1988-1990)
- Arnold Dashefsky (1990-1996)
- Allen Glicksman (1996-2000)
- Sherry Israel (2000-2005)
- Harriet Hartman[4] (2005-2012)
- Steven M. Cohen[5] (2012-2016)
- Leonard Saxe (2016-2020)
- Judit Bokser Liwerant (2020-)
Past vice presidents
- Harriet Hartman
- Shaul Kelner (2005-2008)
- Sylvia Barack Fishman (2008-2012)
- Sergio DellaPergola (2012-2016)
- Sarah Benor (2016-2018)
- Judit Bokser Liwerant (2018-2020)
- Laurence Kotler-Berkowitz (2020-2023)
- Ariela Keysar (2023-)
Past treasurers
- Carmel Chiswick
- Gail Glicksman
- Bruce Phillips (2012-2015)
- Leonard Saxe (2015-2016)
- Matthew Boxer (2016-2021)
- Laurence Kotler-Berkowitz (2020-)
Past secretaries
- Uzi Rebhun
- Benjamin Phillips (2008-2010)
- Theodore Sasson (2010-2012)
- Matthew Boxer (2012-2016)
- Jennifer Thompson (2016-2020)
- Bruce Phillips (2020-2023)
- Ilana Horwitz (2023-)
- Amir Segal
Past at-large members of the board
- Tobin Belzer
- Lila Corwin Berman
- Mijal Bitton
- Paul Burstein
- Barry Chiswick
- Steven M. Cohen
- Arnold Dashefsky
- Bethamie Horowitz
- Ari Kelman
- Ariela Keysar
- Helen Kim
- Moshe Kornfeld
- Laurence Kotler-Berkowitz
- Shawn Landres
- Lilach Lev Ari
- Laura Limonic
- Keren McGinity
- Bruce Phillips
- Riv-Ellen Prell
- Uzi Rebhun
- Sherry Rosen
- Leonard Saxe
- Randal Schnoor
- Ira Sheskin
- Jennifer Thompson
- Harriet Hartman
- Ilana Horwitz
- Dalia Wassner
Past student representatives to the board
- Mijal Bitton
- Matthew Boxer
- Shaul Kelner
- Moshe Kornfeld
- Meredith Woocher
- Amir Segal
Contemporary Jewry Journal
The organization publishes a journal, Contemporary Jewry, several times a year with research articles that draw on a range of social scientific fields and methodologies.[2]
Editor-in-chief: Harriet Hartman
Associate editor: Adina Bankier-Karp
Book Review Editor: Ephraim Tabory
Research Editor: Ira Sheskin
Book series
Studies of Jews in Society Published in concert with Springer Nature, Studies of Jews in Society takes a broad perspective on social science to include anthropology, communications, demography, economics, education, ethnography, geography, history, politics, population, social psychology, and sociology. Books may rely on quantitative methods, qualitative methods, or both.
The series is directed to social scientists and general scholars in Jewish studies as well as those generally interested in religion and ethnicity; academics who teach Jewish studies; undergraduates and graduate students in Jewish studies, sociologists interested in religion and ethnicity; and communal professionals and lay leaders who work in Jewish organizations and individuals. The style, while rigorous scientifically, is accessible to a general audience.
Editor: Chaim Waxman
Awards
The Marshall Sklare Award The Marshall Sklare Award is an annual honor of the Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry (ASSJ). The ASSJ seeks to recognize "a senior scholar who has made a significant scholarly contribution to the social scientific study of Jewry." In most cases, the recipient has given a scholarly address. In recent years, the honored scholar has presented the address at the annual meeting of the Association for Jewish Studies. The award is named after sociologist Marshall Sklare.
Mandell L. Berman Service Award The ASSJ presents the Mandell L. Berman Service Award periodically to communal, civic and business leaders, applied and academic researchers, and philanthropists, for distinguished commitment to the social scientific study of Jews through service or financial support.
Distinguished Early Career Award The ASSJ Distinguished Early Career Award will be given periodically to a recent PhD (within the past ten years) whose work reflects excellence in the application of social science theories and methods to the study of contemporary Jewry.
Graduate Student Paper Award This award recognizes outstanding research on contemporary Jewry by graduate students.
References
- ^ Arnold Dashefsky; Ira M. Sheskin (2 July 2020). American Jewish Year Book 2019: The Annual Record of the North American Jewish Communities Since 1899. Springer Nature. p. 716. ISBN 978-3-030-40371-3.
- ^ a b c "Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry". Retrieved 24 December 2010.
- ^ "Content Pages of the Encyclopedia of Religion and Social Science". Archived from the original on 2013-10-11. Retrieved 2013-12-21.
- ^ "Volume 1 Number 1 ASSJ Newsletter" (PDF). www.contemporaryjewry.org.
- ^ "Join/Renew - Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry".
External links
- ASSJ website
- ASSJ full-text publications on the Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner
- Contemporary Jewry full text articles on the Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner