The Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry (ASSJ) is a cross-disciplinary organization of individuals whose research concerns the

Jewish people Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

throughout the world founded in 1971.

Purpose

The ASSJ comprises primarily

academics An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

, but also policy analysts, communal professionals, and activists whose research concerns the Jewish people throughout the world. Social scientific disciplines represented include

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

social psychology Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the r ...

social anthropology Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

demography Demography () is the statistics, statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and Population dynamics, dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups ...

, contemporary history,

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

, and

Jewish education Jewish education ( he, חינוך, ''Chinuch'') is the transmission of the tenets, principles, and religious laws of Judaism. Known as the "people of the book", Jews value education, and the value of education is strongly embedded in Jewish cul ...

. Members work throughout the world but primarily in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The ASSJ encourages and facilitates contact among researchers, supports the dissemination of research, and assists in the cultivation of younger scholars.

Past presidents

Mervin F. Verbit Mervin Feldman Verbit (born November 24, 1936) is an American sociologist whose work focuses on sociology of religion, American Jews and the American Jewish community. He is currently the chair of the Sociology Department at Touro College. Ac ...

(1971-1973) *

Marshall Sklare Marshall Sklare (1921–1992) was an American sociologist whose work focused on American Jews and the American Jewish Community. Sklare was the Klutznick Family Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies and Sociology at Brandeis University. Becau ...

(1973-1975) * Samuel Klausner (1975-1977) * Celia Heller (1977-1979) * Chaim Waxman (1979-1981) *

Harold Himmelfarb Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts ...

(1981-1983) *

Egon Mayer Egon Mayer (19 August 1917 – 2 March 1944) was a Luftwaffe wing commander and fighter ace of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was credited with 102 enemy aircraft shot down in over 353 combat missions. His victories were all claime ...

(1983-1988) *

Rela Mintz Geffen Transcription factor p65 also known as nuclear factor NF-kappa-B p65 subunit is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''RELA'' gene. RELA, also known as p65, is a REL-associated protein involved in NF-κB heterodimer formation, nuclear tran ...

(1988-1990) *

Arnold Dashefsky Arnold Dashefsky, born in 1942, is a professor at the University of Connecticut who has written several books on the topics relating to Jewish ethnicity, culture, ideologies, among others. Dashefsky is currently director of the North American Je ...

(1990-1996) *

Allen Glicksman Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Unive ...

(1996-2000) * Sherry Israel (2000-2005) *

Harriet Hartman Harriet(t) may refer to: * Harriet (name), a female name ''(includes list of people with the name)'' Places * Harriet, Queensland, rural locality in Australia * Harriet, Arkansas, unincorporated community in the United States * Harriett, Texas, ...

(2005-2012) *

Steven M. Cohen Steven M. Cohen (born April 3, 1950) is an American sociologist whose work focuses on the American Jews, American Jewish Community. He served as a Research Professor of Jewish Social Policy at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, ...

(2012-2016) *

Leonard Saxe Leonard Saxe (born June 12, 1947) is an American social psychologist whose work focuses on sociology of religion, American Jews and the American Jewish community. He is currently the director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at ...

(2016-2020) * Judit Bokser Liwerant (2020-)

Past vice presidents

* Harriet Hartman * Shaul Kelner (2005-2008) * Sylvia Barack Fishman (2008-2012) *

Sergio DellaPergola Sergio Della Pergola ( he, סרג'ו דלה-פרגולה; born September 7, 1942, in Trieste, Italy) is an Italian-Israeli demographer and statistician. He is a professor and demographic expert, specifically in demography and statistics related to ...

(2012-2016) * Sarah Benor (2016-2018) * Judit Bokser Liwerant (2018-2020) * Laurence Kotler-Berkowitz (2020-)

Past treasurers

* Carmel Chiswick * Gail Glicksman * Bruce Phillips (2012-2015) *

(2015-2016) * Matthew Boxer (2016-2021)

Past secretaries

* Uzi Rebhun * Benjamin Phillips (2008-2010) * Theodore Sasson (2010-2012) * Matthew Boxer (2012-2016) * Jennifer Thompson (2016-2020) * Bruce Phillips (2020-)

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

Past student representatives to the board

* Mijal Bitton * Matthew Boxer * Shaul Kelner * Moshe Kornfeld * Meredith Woocher *

Amir Segal Amir Akiva Segal ( he, עמיר עקיבא סגל; born in 1980 in Tzippori) is a poet, literary critic, employment consultant and the CEO of Ovdim. Biography Segal holds a BA in psychology and philosophy from the Hebrew University, and a mas ...

Publication

The organization publishes a journal, ''

Contemporary Jewry ''Contemporary Jewry'' is a peer reviewed academic journal published by the Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry since 1977. The journal mostly publishes articles on the subject of the sociology of Jewry The sociology of Jewry i ...

'', several times a year with research articles that draw on a range of

social scientific Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

fields and methodologies.

The Marshall Sklare Award

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. ...

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 Association for Jewish Studies (AJS) is a scholarly organization in the United States that promotes academic Jewish Studies. The AJS was founded in 1969 and held its first annual conference that year at Brandeis University , mottoeng ...

. The award is named after sociologist

References

{{Reflist

External links

ASSJ websiteASSJ full-text publications
on the Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner
''Contemporary Jewry'' full text articles
on the Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner Jewish society Social sciences organizations Ethnic studies organizations Organizations established in 1971 1971 establishments in the United States