Sephardic StudiesResearch, Teaching & Community
The Sephardic Studies Program of the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Washington is a world-renowned program for the research, teaching, and recuperation of the histories, cultures, and language of Ladino-speaking Sephardic Jews.
The program engages undergraduate and graduate students, scholars, and diverse publics locally, nationally, and internationally through public events like Ladino Day; digital projects and online exhibitions; innovative courses; a robust social media presence; and the Sephardic Studies Digital Collection – one of the largest online open-access repositories of Ladino books and Sephardic artifacts in the world.
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Learn more about the Sephardic Studies Program
The Memories of Greek Jewish Left-Wing Activism from Avraam Benaroya to Michael Moissis Bourlas
This article by Graduate Fellow Alexandra Ritsatos examines how Greek Jewish left-wing activists remembered political struggle, resistance, and identity across the twentieth century. Through the memoirs of Avraam Benaroya and Michael Moissis Bourlas, it explores the intersections of Jewish life, socialism, the Holocaust, and postwar memory in modern Greece. Benaroya was a pioneering Jewish socialist and labor organizer whose influence shaped Greek labor history, while Bourlas's memoirs illuminate the experiences of Jewish resistance and left-wing activism in the aftermath of war.
Finding “Sephardic Treasures”…and Finding Myself with Jewish Studies
By Toni Heilman When I began working at the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies, I was very far removed from my Jewish culture. As a young child, I was very involved: I enthusiastically attended services, learned
The Nazi Translation Office in Athens — A Reflection on Sources
Nazi-translated documents in a Jerusalem archive reveal how the Rosenberg Task Force looted and repurposed Greek Jewish records during World War II. By Joana Bürger In my dissertation, I explore how Greek Jews helped Jewish
Regina Roza and the Forgotten Lives of Radical Sephardic Salonikan Women
Alexandra Ritsatos writes on the activism of Regina Roza, a Sephardic tobacco worker in 1930s Salonika, whose leadership in labor strikes reveals the erased history of Sephardic women in Greece’s interwar leftist movements.
The Sephardic Studies Digital Collection
Explore the collection
Read in-depth essays about artifacts
About the collection
The world's largest online collection of Ladino books and Sephardic artifacts
Learning Ladino
Explore digital resources to begin your Ladino language journey, and read reflections from students and faculty who have studied the language at the University of Washington and beyond. Learn Ladino >
Ladino Day at the University of Washington
Ladino Day is an annual educational and celebratory program centering the Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) language through the performance of stories and songs, and through lectures by scholars, activists, students, and community members. Learn more about Ladino Day >
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“Muestras Konsejas” Essay Competition
Presented with the Sephardic Brotherhood of America, this writing contest opened a new space for Sephardic stories.
Seattle Sephardic Legacies
Trace the journeys of eleven Sephardic families with roots in the Ottoman Empire who came to Seattle in the early twentieth century.
Bailar a la Turka: 78 rpm Records in Seattle Sepharadi Households
Maureen Jackson investigates Turkish music in Sephardic Seattle with artifacts, audio, and more.
Sephardic Life Cycle Customs
Explore the diverse origins of Sephardic life cycle customs and trace their dynamic evolutions from the Ottoman Empire to the United States.
Contribute Artifacts
Do you have an old wedding photo from Izmir, immigration documents from Istanbul, or a Ladino book from Salonica? Consider preserving and sharing your artifact with the Sephardic Studies Digital Collection. Learn more >
Request a Translation
Get connected with qualified translators for documents in Ladino (including those written in soletreo), Greek, Ottoman Turkish, French, and more. Email sephstud@uw.edu to learn more.
Support Sephardic Studies
Make a gift to support the Sephardic Studies Program at the University of Washington and its wide range of projects and programming. Make a gift >
Both graduate and undergraduate students engage in a wide range of original research projects in Sephardic Studies through coursework, independent studies, senior theses, master’s theses, and Ph.D. dissertations. Read More >
The Sephardic Studies Program hosts a variety of events exploring Sephardic culture and history and the Ladino language. View past events >
Devin E. Naar, Sephardic Studies Program Chair & Isaac Alhadeff Professor of Sephardic Studies
Devin E. Naar is the Isaac Alhadeff Professor in Sephardic Studies, Associate Professor of History, and faculty at the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies in the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. Born and raised in New Jersey, Professor Naar graduated summa cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis and received his Ph.D. in History at Stanford University. His first book, Jewish Salonica: Between the Ottoman Empire and Modern Greece (2016, Stanford University Press) explores the impact of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of modern Greece during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries on the Jews of Salonica (Thessaloniki). It was awarded the 2016 National Jewish Book Award in the category of Writing Based on Archival Material; the 2017 Edmund Keeley Book Prize, sponsored by the Modern Greek Studies Association; and was a finalist for the 2016 National Jewish Book Awards in the category of Sephardic Culture.
Read more about Professor Naar at his Jewish Studies faculty page.
Our program is deeply grateful for the support of the generous donors who have made the Sephardic Studies Program possible:
Sephardic Studies Sustainers’ Circle
Joel & Maureen Benoliel
Harry Caraco
in honor of the Caraco and Tarica families
Harvey Sadis & Harriett Cody
in honor of Jean & Joseph Sadis
with generous donations from other supporters including:
David & Victoria Benoliel, Sharon & Marty Lott
and the Isaac Alhadeff Foundation
Sephardic Studies Founders’ Circle
| Eli & Rebecca Almo | Joel & Maureen Benoliel | Harley & Lela Franco |
| Richard & Barrie Galanti | Sharon & Marty Lott | Isaac Alhadeff Foundation |