Dina Danon

Dina Danon is an Associate Professor and Undergraduate Director of Judaic Studies at Binghamton University. She specializes in the modern history of the eastern Sephardi diaspora, with a focus on social history and Ladino archival materials. Her research revises scholarly perspectives on Sephardi communities and Jewish modernity. She holds a PhD from Stanford University and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Education:

• PhD, Stanford University
• BA, University of Pennsylvania

Research Interests: Sephardi Jewry, Modern Jewish History, Sephardi Diasporas, Jews and Muslims, Sephardi Memoirs, Holocaust in Global Perspective, Gender in Jewish History.

Her first book, The Jews of Ottoman Izmir: A Modern History (2020), was a National Jewish Book Award finalist. Current projects include a co-edited volume on Jews in the Modern Islamic World and a study on Ottoman Sephardi matchmaking practices. She directs the Ladino Lab at Binghamton, supported by the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, focusing on preserving Ladino language via text analysis and apprenticeships with native speakers.

Awards & Fellowships:

• National Jewish Book Award Finalist (2020)
• Katz Center Fellowship (University of Pennsylvania)
• IASH Faculty Fellowship (2016)

Labs/Teams: Co-director of the Ladino Lab, a multidisciplinary initiative offering training in Ladino paleography and language preservation through global collaborations.