The Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies, founded in 1980, is a preeminent center for the social-scientific study of contemporary Jewish life. Faculty and staff from a number of disciplines, along with graduate and undergraduate students, conduct a broad range of studies of Jewish life that inform scholarly understanding of contemporary Jewry and influence Jewish communal policies. The center's recent work includes path-breaking studies of Jewish education and Jewish identity.

In recent years, the Cohen Center has extended its reach by becoming the home to two new research-and-training institutes -- the Steinhardt Social Research Institute and the Fisher-Bernstein Institute for Jewish Philanthropy and Leadership. Steinhardt and Fisher-Bernstein share the Cohen Center's dedication to understanding contemporary Jewry and making scholarship available to academics, students, and policy-makers.