Jenny White was born in southern Germany. She emigrated with her mother to the United States when she was seven years old. She studied at Lehman College in the Bronx. After finishing college she traveled to Turkey where she stayed three years and where she earned a Master’s degree in psychology from Hacettepe University in Ankara. She received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1991. She now teaches social anthropology at Boston University. She is the creator of 'Kamil Pasha', a magistrate in late 19th century Istanbul. Visit also this site.