Jael Silliman

The representations of the Middle East in the United States are often unidimensional and do not capture the complexity of women's lives nor do they convey the great cultural and religious diversity among people of the region. Silliman employs stories from the Baghdadi Jewish trading community to illustrate the diversity and tolerance that characterized Jewish Asia. Through extensive travels from Iraq to Shanghai, Baghdadi Jewish women of her family played key roles in building and sustaining community across vast geographic distances and amidst the sweeping historical and political changes of the 19th and 20th centuries. Her family's experiences across cultures and continents provide a unique standpoint from which to examine the ways in which religious, ethnic, and gender identities enrich contemporary concerns regarding the meanings of identity and "home" in our increasingly interconnected world.

Associate Professor in the Women's Studies