Dr. Beena (Veena) Howard is professor of Asian religious traditions in the Department of Philosophy at California State University, Fresno.  She holds the Endowed Chair in Jain and Hindu Dharma, and also serves as the director of the M.K. Gandhi Center: Inner Peace and Sarvodaya.  Her publications include the books Gandhi’s Global Legacy: Moral Methods and Moral Challenges (ed., Lexington, 2023); The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Indian Philosophy and Gender (ed., Bloomsbury, 2019); Dharma, Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, and Sikh Traditions of India (ed., I.B. Tauris, 2017); and Gandhi’s Ascetic Activism: Renunciation and Social Action (SUNY Press, 2013).  She has also authored numerous peer-reviewed articles, including “The Nonviolence Conundrum: Political Peace and Personal Karma in Jain and Hindu Traditions”; “Nonviolence as Love in Action: James Lawson’s Transforming the Promise of Jesus’ Love into a Practical Force for Change”; “Divine Light and Melodies Lead the Way: The Santmat Tradition of Bihar”; “Lessons from ‘The Hawk and the Dove’: Reflections on the Mahābhārata’s Animal Parables and Ethical Predicaments”; and “Rethinking Gandhi’s Celibacy: Ascetic Power and the Empowerment of Women”. Notably, she has served on the Board of Trustees of the Parliament of the World’s Religions.  Dr. Howard is also a TEDx speaker.

Using philosophical and textual approaches and women and gender studies theories, Dr. Howard’s Fulbright-Nehru research project is seeking to create a conversation with the Jain advocates of women’s equality and education, Shrimad Rajchandra (1867–1901) and Virchand Gandhi (1864–1901), while studying the life and work of the female Jain activist, Mridula Sarabhai (1911–1973).  Born in a distinguished family, Sarabhai adopted an austere life, defied patriarchal norms, and made heroic efforts to rehabilitate abducted Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim women in violence-stricken areas.  Through archival resources, engagement with faculty and students at the International School of Jain Studies and local universities, as well as through interviews with the Sarabhai family and Jain female leaders and followers, Dr. Howard is seeking to further the questions of women’s struggle against gender bias and violence.