Dahbany-Miraglia, Dina

Dina Dahbany-Miraglia was born in New York City in 1938. Her parents had both come from the Yemen by way of Turkish Palestine. She attended an all-girls Orthodox Ashkenazi yeshiva and then performed as a dancer and choreographer of modern dance. She attended Hunter College and then Columbia University. She completed her doctorate in anthropology in 1983. Much of her work focuses on Yemenite Jews and their language, culture and history. In addition, her focus on linguistic anthropology led to work with English as a Second Language, including writing an ESL speech textbook as well as articles on reading and writing for ESL. She was a professor in the Department of Speech and Theater at Queensborough Community College, The City University of New York, until her retirement.