Veena R. Howard

Veena R. Howard serves as Professor of Asian Religious Traditions in the Department of Philosophy at California State University, Fresno, holding the Endowed Chair in Jain and Hindu Dharma. She directs the M.K. Gandhi Center: Inner Peace and Sarvodaya and coordinates the Peace and Conflict Studies Program, demonstrating deep institutional commitment through dual leadership roles in research centers.

Her research centers on Asian Religious Traditions with rigorous focus on Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, while pioneering intersections with Gandhi philosophy, animal ethics, and interfaith studies. Howard critically examines ethical frameworks within Indian religious contexts, particularly exploring ascetic practices as catalysts for social transformation and nonviolent resistance. Her work consistently bridges classical Indian philosophical texts with contemporary global challenges in environmental ethics and social justice.

Howard's publication trajectory reveals sustained scholarly engagement with Indian philosophical traditions, evolving from foundational work on Gandhi's ascetic activism (2013) to comprehensive analyses of dharma traditions (2017) and cutting-edge intersections of gender with Indian philosophy (2019). This progression demonstrates increasing methodological sophistication in connecting religious ethics to modern socio-political issues, particularly through her authoritative Oxford Bibliography on Gandhi.

As director of the M.K. Gandhi Center, Howard spearheads initiatives exploring inner peace cultivation and Sarvodaya (welfare of all beings), while her coordination of the Peace and Conflict Studies Program fosters interdisciplinary approaches to conflict resolution. Her community engagement extends to the Parliament of the World’s Religions through Board of Trustees service, actively promoting interfaith dialogue and global religious cooperation beyond campus boundaries.