Fulbright awarded to Dr. Veena Howard to explore Jain women’s rights advocates and activists in India

Dr. Veena Howard has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Award to conduct a four-month research project in India. Her project, titled “Embodying the Jain Ideals of Heroism and Freedom,” will explore how Jain thinkers and activists worked to support women’s rights in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

During her research at Savitribai Phule Pune University starting in January 2025, Dr. Howard will focus on three key figures: two male advocates for women’s equality, Shrimad Rajchandra (1867-1901) and Virchand Gandhi (1864-1901), and one female activist, Mridula Sarabhai (1911-1973).

Sarabhai stands out as a particularly inspiring person. Despite coming from a wealthy and prominent family, she chose to live simply and challenge traditional social expectations. She was deeply influenced by Gandhi and she assumed leading roles in many of his initiatives. During a time of intense conflict, she did extraordinary work helping Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim women who had been abducted during violent events, regardless of their religious background.

To understand this history, Dr. Howard is using multiple approaches. She plans to examine historical documents, talk with scholars and students specializing in Jain studies, and interview Sarabhai’s family members and other women leaders. Her goal is to shed light on women’s struggle against gender bias and violence, using the stories of these Jain activists as a window into that struggle. 

Veena R. Howard, Ph.D., is a professor of Asian religious traditions in the Department of Philosophy at California State University, Fresno. She also holds the Endowed Chair in Jain and Hindu Dharma and is the director of the M.K. Gandhi Center: Inner Peace and Sarvodaya. She is the coordinator of the Peace and Conflict Studies Program. 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”. She has served on the Board of Trustees of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. Dr. Howard is also a TEDx speaker.

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Claude AI contributed to this story.