International Conferences; Lectures

Prof. Singh has lectured widely at premier institutions like the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Yale, Cornell, Tel Aviv University ( Israel) and Sciences Po ( France). She has been an invited speaker at presigious international venues such as the Library of Congress and the Kennedy Center, Washington DC.

Dr. Singh has delived book-talks at over 25 Universities in the US and has been invited by numerous Jewish community organizations to speak about her research-based book : 'Being Indian, Being Israeli'.

International Speaking Events

• 'Navigating Career & Culture', HBO Corporate Office, New York, May 19, 2016. (Asia-Pacific American Heritage Month)

• 'India-Israel: People to People Connections', Jewish Federation, Alpert Jewish Community Center, Long Beach CA, April 12, 2016.

• Colloquium on 'Jews of India', University of Southern California, Los Angeles. April 11, 2016.

• Colloquium on ‘India-Israel Relations’ Embassy of India, Washington DC February 29, 2016. Talk: ‘Israelis in India; Indian Jews in Israel’.

• Invited Speaker/ Moderator at Jaipur Literature Festival, India (January 25, 2016) Panel on Diaspora and Migration

https://youtu.be/qXEkdHx8MUE

• Invited Speaker: OP Jindal Global University, India. February 8, 2016. Title: “Ethnicity, Identity and Complexities of Homeland”

• Speaker at Jaipur Literary Festival (Sept 19-20, 2015 Boulder, Colorado).

https://www.facebook.com/JaipurLitFestOfficial/videos/1078665735499137

• At Library of Congress (2009):http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=4894

• Colloquium on ‘India-Israel Relations’ Embassy of India, Washington DC February 29, 2016. Talk: ‘Israelis in India; Indian Jews in Israel’.

• Presented Paper at International Conference: "Indian Diaspora & Cultural Heritage: Past, Present & Future". New Delhi. 11-13 February, 2015

• Invited Speaker: Talk on “Indian Jewish Diaspora”, Brandeis University. October 22, 2015

• “Teaching Israel Studies in India” Center for Israel Studies, American University. Nov. 5, 2015

• -Moderator: Post-screening Discussion on award-winning documentary “Daughters of Mother India”. Embassy of India, Washington DC (Nov. 12, 2015).

• Invited Speaker : “Indian Israeli Identities”, Baghdadi Jewish Community, Golders’ Green, London, UK . April 16,2015

2013

"Being Indian, being Israeli: Indian Jews in Israel". Keynote delivered at Conference : "Israel : Perspectives on A State in Transition". Jindal Global University, Sonepat. April 12, 2013.

''Diaspora and Identity : Indian Jews in Israel'' Lecture delivered to 'Young India Fellows' May 16, 2013, New Delhi . (YIF is a highly competitive post-graduate program launched by Ashoka University, Delhi (in collaboration with U-Penn, USA). http://www.youngindiafellowship.com/

"Contesting Diaspora Stereotypes: Indian Americans in US Politics". Conference Paper : "Diasporas: Exploring Critical Issues". 6th Global Conference; Mansfield College, Oxford ( July6--8. 2013.

( http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/at-the-interface/diversity-recognition/diasporas/conference-programme-abstracts-and-papers/session-9-here-and-there-questions-of-place/)

2012

"Indian Jewish Identities in Israel". Jewish Community Center, Northern Virginia. October 4, 2012

“Indian American Stereotypes and US Media: Strategizing for Change”. The Indiaspora Forum, Mohonk Mountain House, New York. September 14-16, 2012.

"Indian Jewish Communities in Israel". Talk at Annual Meeting, American Jewish Committee, Chicago. Il. Aug 30, 2012.

"Indians and Jews : Diaspora Stories" . Cleveland State University April 30, 2012 (Annual Presidential lecture)

"From Colonialism to Globalization : Gender Relations in India" .Cleveland State University April 30, 2012

--Moderator : Panel “Innovation, Leadership and Diaspora: Sharing Jewish and Indian Experiences.” Sikh Art & Film Foundation (SAFF),

New York City on October 22, 2011.

2009-2011

“Who are the Jews of India?” 31st AIJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy. Washington, DC, 08/14/2011

“When we look East, our closest friend is India: India-Israel relations”.Conference : Association of Israel Studies , Brandeis University, June 2011

“Religion, Diversity, and Social Cleavages: Challenges in Contemporary Israeli Society” Conference : American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies’ College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA.April 8-9, 2011

“Writing Our Lives: Migration Narratives of Indian-Jewish Women,” her current research project.Brandeis University, Schusterman Center for Israel Studies 03/23/2011

Seattle Jewish Film Festival, 03/21/2011

Dr. Singh speaks about her book, Being Indian, Being Israeli, and converses with Nissim Reuben, American Jewish Committee Program Director of Indian-Jewish American Relations, about the film “Rafting to Bombay”.

The Library of Congress, 3/31/2010

Israelis of Indian descent continue to live on the periphery, where they were settled by the state of Israel between the 1950s and 1970s. The story of Indian migration, acculturation and identity in Israel is the subject of a new book by Maina Chawla Singh titled “Being Indian, Being Israeli: Migration, Ethnicity and Gender in the Jewish Homeland.” Maina Chawla Singh discusses her book at a lecture at the Library of Congress. This event is sponsored by the Asian Division, the Asian Division Friends Society and the Library of Congress Hebrew Language table in cooperation with the Embassy of India.

American University’s Center for Israel Studies, 11/17/2009

On November 17, 2009 over 100 guests attended a Center for Israel Studies hosted book talk at American University featuring Dr. Maina Chawla Singh, author of Being Indian, Being Israeli: Migration, Ethnicity, and Gender in the Jewish Homeland (New Delhi: Manohar Publishers, 2009). The ground-breaking book, about Israel’s large Indian immigrant population, is based on ethnographic research and over 150 interviews with members of Israel’s Indian Jewish community. Dr. Singh teaches at the University of Delhi and is currently American University Patrick Clendenen Scholar-in-Residence. Dr. Singh is married to Ambassador Arun Singh, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of India to the United States. Ambassador and Doctor Singh lived in Israel from 2005-2008 when Ambassador Singh served as India’s Ambassador to Israel.

Following her lecture, Dr. Singh was joined by Sally Oren, wife of the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, and herself an immigrant to Israel. Together Dr. Singh and Mrs. Oren discussed ethnicity and the immigrant experience in Israel. They are pictured above with Laura Cutler (CIS), Ambassador Michael Oren, Ambassador Arun Singh, and Russell Stone (CIS).

Previous Presentations at International Conferences :

“Identity and Empowerment: British Women in Colonial India” (State University of New York, Buffalo, March 1995).

“Women’s Movement in India: Environment issues” (Socialist Scholars Conference, New York, April, 1995)

“Cross-Cultural Philanthropy and Women’s Education in 19^th Century Colonial India” (ARNOVA ’95 [Association for Research on Non-Profit Organizations and Voluntary Action] Cleveland, Ohio, November, 1995).

“Coalitions and Conflicts: Quaker Missionaries in Colonial India”. (Biennial Conference of Quaker Historians and Archivists. Poughkeepsie, New York June 1996).

‘Heathen Women’ and ‘Distant Lands’: American Missionaries and the Colonized Woman (New York Conference for Asian Studies, Dowling College, New York: October, 1996).

“Women, Philanthropy, Religion and the State – International Perspectives”. (ARNOVA [Association for Research on Non-Profit Organizations and Voluntary Action] New York, November, 1996).

“Missions, Nationalism, and the end of Empire” (Queen’s College, Cambridge. September 2000).

‘Current Trends in Gender Scholarship in India: A Context’. (Seminar on New Directions in Gender Research. Fulbright House [USEFI], New Delhi: April 2001).

‘Feminism, Philanthropy, Race and Religion: Single Women Missionaries in South Asia’ (Women’s History Network Conference. London Guildhall University, September 2001).

‘Margaret Noble (Sister Nivedita: 1867 – 1911): A Missionary for India’. (Conference of the International Federation for Research in Women’s History, Queen’s University, Belfast, August 2003).

‘Gender, Medicine and Empire: Early Initiatives in Institution-building and Professionalization (1870s – 1940s)’. (Conference: Gender, Society and Development, 1860 – 2000. Nehru Memorial Museum & Library, New Delhi, October 2003).

‘Globalization, Sexuality and Trafficking in South Asia: Some Interventions in Understanding Violence Against Women’.(Conference, Wellesley College, USA. April 2004).

‘Gender Sexuality and Activism: Addressing Trafficking in South Asia. (Conference: “Feminism Contesting Globalisation’. University College, Dublin, July 2004).

‘Language, Meaning and Portrayals of the ‘‘Self’’ and “Other”: Reading 19^th C. Missionary Texts on Colonial India. (Conference, Centre for Philosophy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Nov, 2004.)

‘Christian Women in India: Missionary Legacies and Contemporary Concerns’. (Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem, Israel) January, 2006.

‘Women in India: Some Contemporary Gender Issues’. Tel Aviv University (January,