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Recent Publications

Children at risk in the FSU & Eastern Europe: A review of economic and social indicators for children served by Jewish community social welfare agencies
(Updated May 2013)

Throughout the FSU, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) has supported the development of children’s programs to assist in the provision of services to Jewish children and families in need. This report examines the conditions related to risks for children in the CEE/FSU. The focus is on the conditions in Ukraine and Russia as well as Latvia, Bulgaria and Romania. We compare country-level indicators of risk to those in the United States and Israel. We also review and summarize data on children currently being served in Russia and Ukraine by the JDC through its Hesed welfare system.

Teaching and Learning about Israel: Assessing the Impact of Israeli Faculty on American Students
February 2013
This report discusses the impact of visiting Israeli professors on classroom environments and learning experiences for students enrolled in their courses about Israel.

Searching for the Study Israel: A Directory of Courses about Israel on U.S. College Campuses 2011-12
February 2013
A directory of 2011-12 Israel course offerings at American colleges and universities created to document the prevalence and diversity of Israel studies in the academy.

Reflections on the Science of the Social Scientific Study of Jewry
December 2012
The Sklare Award is given annually by the Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry (ASSJ) to a senior scholar who has made a significant academic contribution to the social scientific study of Jewry. The 2012 awardee, Leonard Saxe, is the current Klutznick Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies at Brandeis University and director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies, as well as the Steinhardt Social Research Institute. The present publication was the text for Saxe’s Sklare Award lecture given on December 16, 2012 at the 44th Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies in Chicago.

Hardship and Needs of Elderly Hesed Clients: An Analysis of Clients Served by Hesed Service Centers in Russia & Ukraine
November 2012 
Throughout the Former Soviet Union (FSU), the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) has supported the development of Hesed welfare and Jewish community centers to assist in the provision of services to Jews in need and to support the renewal of Jewish life after years of suppression. The present report is designed to review the current economic, health, and social conditions of these elderly Jews in need in the FSU and to compare their circumstances, as best possible, to their counterparts who live in western countries such as the United States. (The short-form Research Brief can be found here.)