Laura Limonic is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the College of Old Westbury of the State University of New York. Her research is in the area of contemporary immigration to the United States and the integration trajectories of ethnic and ethno-religious groups. Her recent book, Kugel and Frijoles: Latino Jews in the United States explores issues of ethnicity, race, class and religious community building among Latino Jewish immigrants in Boston, New York, Miami and Southern California. Laura’s current work examines the rise of Chabad in Latin America as an avenue for Jewish identity construction and communal life among Jews in Latin America and abroad. Her work has been supported by the Berman Foundation, the Association for Jewish Studies and the Templeton Trust. Laura received her PhD in Sociology from the CUNY Graduate Center in 2014. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin American Studies from Brandeis University and a Master of International Affairs degree from Columbia University. In addition to academic research, Laura has an extensive background in public policy research and advocacy.