Dr. Elora Halim Chowdhury (she/her) is Professor & Chair of the Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Director of the Human Rights Program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her teaching and research interests include transnational feminisms, violence and human rights advocacy, narrative and film with an emphasis on South Asia.
Elora is the author of Ethical Encounters: Transnational Feminism, Human Rights, and War Cinema in Bangladesh (Temple University Press, 2022). Her first book, Transnationalism Reversed: Women Organizing Against Gendered Violence in Bangladesh (SUNY Press, 2011), was awarded the National Women’s Studies Association Gloria Anzaldua book prize in 2012. She has co-edited several volumes: Dissident Friendships: Feminism, Imperialism and Transnational Solidarity (University of Illinois Press, 2016), Interdisciplinary Approaches to Human Rights: History, Politics, Practice (Routledge, 2018), and, South Asian Filmscapes: Transregional Encounters (University of Washington Press, 2020). Her current project explores affective and intimate realms of women’s narratives and storytelling around migration, food pathways, and ethics of care.
Elora served on the Executive Committee of NWSA (as Vice President) 2015 – 2017.