2022 Distinguished Early Career Awardee: Ilana Horwitz

The ASSJ is very pleased to announce that the inaugural ASSJ Distinguished Early Career Aware recipient is Ilana Horwitz, Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies and Sociology, and the Fields-Rayant Chair of Contemporary Jewish Life at the Stuart and Suzanne Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience at Tulane University.  Dr. Horwitz’s recent book, God, Grades, and Graduation: Religion’s Surprising Impact on Academic Success, introduces readers to the concept of religious restraint, a new type of childrearing logic that cuts across social class groups and accounts for the role of religion. She also explains how different combinations of religious restraint, class, and gender shape the academic trajectory of teens from high school to college.  Her scholarship has also appeared in American Sociological Review, Social Science Research, Contemporary Jewry, Review of Religious Research, Contexts, and Jewish Social Studies.  She has published opinion pieces in outlets like Washington Post, The Conversation, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Inside Higher Education and Religion News Service.  Dr. Horwitz earned her PhD in Sociology of Education & Jewish Studies from Stanford University.  The Distinguished Early Career Award will be presented to her at the upcoming 2022 Association for Jewish Studies conference in Boston.