Maina Chawla Singh’s research spans across Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. She has worked on Migration,Gender, Colonialism, History of Medicine, Jewish Identities, Isreal Studies and Indian Diaspora communities in the US and France.
ISRAEL : Her book Being Indian, Being Israeli : Migration, Ethnicity and Gender in the Jewish Homeland (New Delhi: 2009; Reprint :2014), draws upon over 125 ethnographies and interviews conducted in Israel, among Indian Jewish communities.
France : In 2013, Singh conducted fieldwork among Indian-origin communities in Guadeloupe ( the French Caribbean), to explore issues of Identity, Assimilation and current trends among Guadeloupe Indians to re-connect with their Indian heritage.
United States: Since 2010, Singh's has been closely researching the emergence of second-generation Indian Americans in US politics and social policy. Singh teaches about these issues and has written blogs and moderated several panels featuring young Indian Americans in Politics.
Singh's earlier book Gender, Religion, and “Heathen Lands": American Missionary Women in South Asia (1860s – 1940s), (2000) draws from her doctoral research focusing on gender, colonialism and the cross-cultural work of American women missionaries. Between 2002-2006 Singh published several scholarly articles on gender and missionary work, and the politics of colonial medicine in India.
Singh has lived / researched in Russia, Ethiopia, Japan and France and has taught at universities in Israel and the United States. Her cross-cultural experiences inspire a strong interest in Migration, Assimilation and Diasporic identities with a special focus on gender.
BOOKS
Being Indian, Being Israel : Migration, Ethnicity and Gender in the Jewish Homeland.New Delhi: Manohar Publishers, 2009.Reprint :2014.
Gender, Religion, and “Heathen Lands’: American Missionary Women in South Asia (1860s – 1940s) New York: Routledge/Garland, 2000
Gender,Culture and Identity: Migration Narratives of Indian Jewish Women (work-in-progress)
Indian American Diaspora in US Politics. (research-in-progress)
BOOK CHAPTERS/: JOURNAL ARTICLES :
“Indenture, Cultural Retention and a Rekindled ‘Indian-ness’: Indian Diaspora in Guadeloupe, France”. (Submitted for publication)
‘Where have you brought us, Sir?’ Gender, Displacement and the Challenges of ‘Homecoming’ for Indian Jews in Dimona (1950s-60s) In Shofar,An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies. Vol. 32 Issue1. 2013. p1-26.
“Indians and Israelis: Beyond Strategic Partnerships”. In Israel Studies, (Indiana University Press). Vol. 17, No. 3 (Fall 2012), pp. 22-44
“The Indian Jews in Israel- A Forgotten Diaspora?” Foreign Policy Research Centre--Journal (Special Issue: ‘India-Israel Relations’) Jan.2011 http://www.fprc.in/fprc_journal5.php (www.fprc.in)
‘Gender, Thrift and Indigenous Adaptations: Money and Resources in Missionary Medical Institutions in Colonial India.’ (London: Women’s History Review, Vol. 15, No. 5, November,2006). Pp. 701-717.
“‘Hazards’ of Health and Discourses of Disease: British Medical Handbooks for ‘The Tropics’”. The Indian Historical Review. Vol XXXIII No. 2, July 2006. Pp 66-88.
‘Political Activism and the politics of spirituality: The layered identities of Sister Nivedita/ Margaret Noble (1867-1911). In Tadgh Foley and Maureen O’Connor eds.) Ireland and India: Colonies, Culture and Empire.( Dublin: Irish Academic press, 2006). Pp. 39-57.
“Women, Mission and Medicine: Clara Swain, Anna Kugler and early medical endeavors in Colonial India.” International Bulletin of Missionary Research Vol 29, No. 3,July 1, 2005.Pp. 128-134.
Gender, Medicine and Empire: Early Initiatives in Institution-building and Professionalization (1870s – 1940s). In Shakti Kak and Biswamoy Pati (eds.) Exploring Gender Equations: Colonial and Post-Colonial India (Teen Murti Nehru Memorial and Library, New Delhi: 2005).Pp. 93-115.
Philanthropy, Voluntarism and Women’s Education in Colonial India : A study of The Bethune College, Calcutta. Asian Journal of Gender Studies. Vol.2, No. 3, 2000. Pp. 65-92.
Gender, Mission, and Higher Education in a Cross-cultural Context: Isabella Thoburn in India. International Bulletin of Missionary Research Vol 25, No. 4, October 2001. Pp. 165-169.
‘Missionary Legacies and Christ-filled Doctors’: Gender, Religion and Professionalization in the History of The Christian Medical College, Vellore.’ In Mushirul Hasan (ed.), Knowledge, Power and Politics: Educational Institutions in India. (Roli Books, New Delhi: 1998).Pp. 430-63.
Gender-focused Published ESSAYS in ENCYCLOPEDIAS:
“MOTHERHOOD and MATERNITY” (5000-word Essay) in New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. Macmillan/Charles Scribner’s, New York: 2005
“FEMINISM” (5000-word essay) in New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. Macmillan/ Charles Scribner’s, New York : 2005.
‘WOMEN IN MODERN AFGHANISTAN’ in Women in World History, Oxford University Press New York, 2008.
‘WOMEN IN COLONIAL SOUTH ASIA’ Women in World History, Oxford University Press, New York, 2008.
BEGUM AKHTAR in Women in World History, Oxford University Press, New York, 2008.
Blogs/Articles:
"Internationalization and Indian HEIs : Best Practices from Teaching Undergraduates:
SANNAM s4 :
https://sannams4.com/sannam-s4-launches-its-practitioner-series-2019-2020/
In Times of Hate, My Mother Taught Us How Irrational, Dangerous Communalism Is: https://thewire.in/communalism/times-of-hate-communalism-india
The Wire :https://thewire.in/world/kamala-harris-indian-americans-appeal
(Huffington Post)
“What India Day Celebrations in the U.S. Say About the Indian-American Diaspora”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maina-chawla-singh/india-day-indian-american-diaspora_b_7983616.html
“What Young Indians in Silicon Valley Have to Say About Modi's India”
Huffington Post --http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/8180208