Dr. Indu Viswanathan, Director and Co-Founder

Indu Viswanathan is a scholar, educator, and writer whose work explores Hindu identity, education, and the lasting effects of coloniality on contemporary narratives about Hinduism. Her research focuses on the lived experiences of Hindu American families and how educational institutions construct and transmit knowledge about Hindu traditions. With extensive experience in curriculum design, teacher education, and program development, she is dedicated to fostering culturally sustaining pedagogies that honor diverse worldviews.

Her writing examines the depth and continuity of Hindu ways of knowing. She authored a Springer chapter on temple pedagogy, exploring Hindu temples as vibrant sites of embodied learning, highlighting Hindu temples as sites of embodied learning, and is currently working on projects about the Vedic concept of intuition through the Art of Living’s Intuition Process and a book centering Hindu American voices in education and public life. A longtime disciple of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Indu’s work is rooted in dharma and pluralism, guiding her advocacy for compassionate, inclusive education. Her two-decade career spans teaching in New York public schools, international education in India and Haiti, and leadership roles in teacher development with organizations like Teach For India and Akanksha.

Indu holds an MA in Elementary Education and a Doctorate in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a BA in Economics from Cornell University. She currently serves as the Director of Education and Core Faculty at the Hindu University of America, bridging scholarship and practice to challenge erasure and misrepresentation of Hindu traditions.