Jael Silliman was a tenured Associate Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of Iowa, USA. She was also a Program Officer at the Ford Foundation, New York. She is the author of several books, scholarly papers and popular articles for newspapers and magazines on gender, development, race, social justice, women’s rights issues, and writes about her community—the Baghdadi Jews of Calcutta. Her books relating to Kolkata’s cultural history include Jewish Portraits, Indian Frames: Women’s Narratives from a Diaspora of Hope, two novels, The Man with Many Hats and The Teak Almirah. Her most recent co-authored publications are Where Gods Reside: Kolkata’s Scared Places and Adda! The College Street Coffee House and India in Celebration.
She has created a digital archive on the Calcutta Jewish community at https://indianjewishcenter.co.il/baghdadi-jews/
