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GTU Voices - Rita D. Sherma, PhD

    Rita D. Sherma, PhD

    Director of the Center for Dharma Studies
    Associate Professor of Dharma Studies

    Core Doctoral Faculty
    At the GTU since
    2015
    Graduate Theological UnionThe Mira and Ajay Shingal Center for Dharma Studies (CDS) Women's Studies in Religion
    rsherma@gtu.edu

    Rita Sherma holds a PhD and an MA from Claremont Graduate University, her research and teaching interests include Hindu Theology & Ethics; Science & Religions; Women & Hindu Goddess Studies; Art & Religions; Methodology in Religious Studies; and Ecology & Religion; she has published five edited volumes. She spearheaded the effort to establish the Hinduism program unit of the American Academy of Religion (AAR), serves as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Dharma Studies: Philosophy, Theology, Ethics, and Culture by Springer, cofounded the Dharma Academy of North America (DANAM), and is an Associate Editor of the Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. 

    Degrees and Certifications

    PhD, Claremont Graduate University, 2002

    MA, Claremont Graduate University, 1997

    BAdmin, University of Ottawa

    Research and Teaching Interests
    • Hindu Theology & Ethics
    • Sustainability Studies
    • Women & Hindu Goddess Studies
    • Art & Religions
    • Comparative Theology
    • Ecology & Religion

    • Hinduism & Divine Feminine 

    • Yoga Theology & Ethics

    • Eco-Feminism

    Academic Committees and Boards

    Editor in Chief, Journal of Dharma Studies: Philosophy, Theology, Ethics, and Culture, Springer. 

    Founding Vice President, Dharma Academy of North America (DANAM)

    Associate Editor of the Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. 

    Selected Publications

    • Sustainable Societies: Interreligious Interdisciplinary Responses, Springer Sophia Series, 2018.

    • Hinduism and the Divine: Foundations of Hindu Theology, IB Tauris, 2019.

    • The Life, Legacy, and Contemporary Relevance of Swami Vivekananda: New Reflections, Lexington, 2019.

    • "A Hindu Response to Laudato Si'," For Our Common Home: Process-Relational Responses to Laudato Si', Process Century Press, 2015.

    • Woman and Goddess in Hinduism: Reinterpretations and Re-envisionings, ed. (with Tracy Pintchman), Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
    • Hermeneutics and Hindu Thought: Toward a Fusion of Horizons, ed. (with Arvind Sharma), Springer Publishing, 2008.
    • “Religion versus Spirituality: A Hindu Perspective,” Prabuddha Bharata Journal (Special Issue on Religion in Changing Times), 2015.
    • “The Ecosystem of Religions: A Hindu Perspective,” in Sensible Religion ed. Dan Cohn-Sherbok and Christopher Lewis, Ashgate Publishing, 2014.
    Courses Taught
    • Seminar in Sacred Texts and their Interpretation
    • Theology and Ethics Seminar
    • Natural Science in an Interreligious Context
    • Yoga Studies Foundations
    • God The Mother in Hinduism 
    • Introduction to Hindu Theology
    • Yoga Beyond the Mat
    • Hindu Theology: Foundations
    • Hermeneutics: Hindu Critiques