91破解版

Instructional Assistant Professor

91破解版

Office: Science & Research Building 2, 122F
Email: sborkataky-varma@uh.edu

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Biographical Summary

Sravana Borkataky-Varma specializes in South Asian religions, with a particular emphasis on Hindu practices. Her scholarly work investigates Indian religions and delves into topics such as esoteric rituals and bodily concepts especially in relation to Hindu 艣腻办迟补&苍产蝉辫;tantra traditions, often referred to as goddess tantra. She adopts a research methodology that blends social anthropology鈥攅xamined from an outside perspective鈥攚ith elements of reflexive autoethnography that reflect her personal experiences. As an educator, she holds the position of Instructional Assistant Professor at the 91破解版.

As a social entrepreneur, she is the co-founder of a nonprofit, Lumen Tree Portal. Sravana invests in building communities with individuals from various faith backgrounds who believe in kindness, compassion, and fulfillment. She is a Board of Trustee member for Esalen Institute and serves as an Advisory Board member for Compassionate Houston.

Research Interests

Hindu Traditions, Tantra, Rituals, and Bodies.

Publications

BOOKS

• The Serpent's Tale: Ku峁囜笉alin墨 and the History of an Experience, co-authored monograph with Anya Foxen (forthcoming, 2025)
• Embodied Pedagogy in the Study of Religions: Transforming the Classroom, co-edited volume with Sarabinh Levy-Brightman (forthcoming, 2025)
• Religious Responses to the Pandemic & Crises: Isolation, Survival, and #Covidchaos, co-edited volume with Christian A. Eberhart, and Marianne Bjelland Katrzow, 2024
• Living Folk Religions, co-edited volume with Aaron Michael Ullrey, 2023

BOOKS IN PROGRESS

• Divinized Divas: Superwomen, Wives, Partners, and Hij峁浤乻 in Hindu Goddess Tantra, monograph
• Altered, co-authored monograph with Anya Foxen

BOOK CHAPTERS

• 2026 (forthcoming): Hij峁浤乻,鈥� Oxford Bibliographies in Hinduism, Chief editor Prof. Tracy Coleman, Oxford University Press.
• 2026 (forthcoming): 鈥淚maginal Siddhis, Engines of Insights,鈥� in The Tantric World, edited by Anna A. Golovkova, Hillary Langberg, and Hugh B. Urban, Routledge Press.
• 2025 (forthcoming): 鈥淎rousing Pedagogy: Troubling the Scholar-Practitioner Model鈥� in Embodied Pedagogies in the Study of Religions: Transforming the Classroom, edited by Sravana Borkataky-Varma and Sarabinh Levy-Brightman, Routledge Press.
• 2024: 鈥淔rom the Fringes to the Center Stage: Hij峁浤乻 and Fertility Rituals in K膩m膩khy膩,鈥� in The Oxford Handbook of Tantric Studies, edited by Richard K. Payne and Glen A. Hayes, Oxford University Press.
• 2023: "WhatsApp Bagal膩mukh墨: Experiences Deemed Religious" in The Ethnography of Tantra: Textures and Contexts of Living Tantric Traditions, edited by Carola Erika Lorea and Rohit Singh, SUNY.
• 2022: 鈥淭he Yogic Body in Global Transmission鈥� in The Handbook of Yoga and Meditation Studies, edited by Suzanne Newcombe and Karen O鈥橞rien-Kop, Routledge Press.
• 2022: "Taming Hindu 艢akta Tantra on the Internet: Online P奴j膩s for the Goddess Tripurasundar墨" in Digital Hinduism, edited by Xenia Zeiler, Routledge Press.

JOURNAL EDITIONS AND ARTICLES

• 2022: Co-editor of the special issue Digital Tantra, International Journal of Hindu Studies, DOI: 10.1007/s11407-022-09314-.
• 2019: Editor for the special issue Out for Blood: Sacrifice, Tantra, and Normative Hinduism, International Journal of Hindu Studies, DOI: 10.1007/s11407-019-09256-1.
• 2019: 鈥淩ed: An Ethnographic Study of Cross-Pollination between the Vedic and the Tantric,鈥� International Journal of Hindu Studies, in Out for Blood: Sacrifice, Tantra, and Normative Hinduism, International Journal of Hindu Studies, Chief Editor Sushil Mittal, DOI: 10.1007/s11407-019-09258-z.
• 2018: 鈥淭he Dead Speak: A Case Study from the Tiwa Tribe Highlighting the Hybrid World of 艢膩kta Tantra in Assam,鈥� Religions 2017, 8(221), DOI: 10.3390/rel8100221.
• 2018: 鈥淢enstruation: Pollutant to Potent鈥� in Encyclopedia of Indian Religions: Hinduism and Tribal Religions, edited by Arvind Sharma, Springer, DOI: 10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_481-1.
• 2015: 鈥淭he Ancient Elusive Serpent in Modern Times: The Practice of Ku峁囜笉alin墨 in K膩m膩khy膩,鈥� International Journal of Dharma Studies, DOI https://orcid.org/ 0000-0002-8589-1871 (2015).
• 2014: 鈥淗induism,鈥� for the accompanying website for Jeffrey J. Kripal's 鈥淐omparing Religions: Coming to Terms鈥� (Oxford: Wiley Blackwell). 

Podcasts

Classes

• Introduction to Religious Studies
• Hindu Religion and Identity: A Global Movement
• Lived Hindu Religion
• Buddhist Traditions: An Introduction
• History of Postural Yoga
• Religion and Film