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]
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]
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
Studies of Jews in SocietyPublished 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
The Marshall Sklare AwardThe 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 AwardThe 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 AwardThe 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 AwardThis award recognizes outstanding research on contemporary Jewry by graduate students.