Our current research areas include:
CMJS research on Jewish education falls into two categories: formal and experiential. In terms of formal education, our projects have included studies of day schools and studies of day school funding structures. One of our signature projects in the field of Jewish education is JData, an online database for Jewish educational organizations, from preschool through college.
Our projects related to experiential education include studies of Jewish service, opportunities for teenagers, and Jewish camping. Taglit-Birthright Israel is a model of experiential education, and our program of research is listed in this research area as well as the the one below.
These research projects encompass our studies of Taglit-Birthright Israel as well as evaluations of programs designed to increase awareness of Israel or the field of Israel studies in the United States.
The Steinhardt Social Research Institute (SSRI) at the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies works with local residents and leaders to design and implement studies most appropriate for that community's particular needs. Community studies have focused on population characteristics and estimates as well as economic need. Studies our now underway in Boston and Seattle. Find out more about our community studies by visiting us here.
In an effort to develop reliable estimates of the size and characteristics of the American Jewish population, SSRI has used a data synthesis approach to yield estimates of the proportion of U.S. adults who claim Judaism as their religion, the number of secular/cultural Jews (i.e., Jews who identify other than by religion), and the number of children. Our studies of the national U.S. Jewish population include American Jewish Population Estimates: 2012, Reconsidering the Size and Characteristics of the American Jewish Population, and Estimating the Jewish Population of the United States: 2000-2010.
SSRI has also developed the American Jewish Population Project, an innovative effort to map the Jewish population in the United States. This project is intended to allow comparative analyses nationally and locally, as well as over time. Visit AJPP.