Faculty Voices

Dr. Rita D. Sherma serves as the founding Director of the GTU’s Center for Dharma Studies, GTU Core Doctoral Faculty, and Co-Chair of GTU Sustainability 360—an interreligious environmental humanities initiative. She's held leadership roles as Vice President of the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies and as Founding Vice President of the Dharma Academy of North America. Additionally, she founded the Hinduism Program Unit at the American Academy of Religion. Over her career, she has organized more than twenty international conferences spanning Sustainability Studies, Religion & Integrative...

Beth Kumar is the Director of Library Services at the GTU Library. Beth has held a number of positions in the GTU library since arriving in 2014, including the Head of Reference for five years. She holds a MS in Library and Information Science, and an EdM in Educational Leadership and Organization in Higher Education both from the University of Illinois, as well as a BS in History from the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. 

Dr. Richard K. Payne is the GTU’s award recipient for the 47th Annual Distinguished Faculty Lecture. Dr. Payne is Yehan Numata Professor of Japanese Buddhist Studies, Chair of IBS Publications Committee, and he is the Buddhism and Contemporary Psychology Certificate Program Director at the Institute of Buddhist Studies (IBS). He is also a Core Doctoral Faculty member, and he has been at the GTU since 1995. Dr. Payne will present the 47th Annual Distinguished Faculty Lecture, titled, “From Ritual to Religion: The Consequences of Taking Nondualism Seriously,” on November 15, 2022, at 6:00 pm (...