Negotiating the salientization of identity: Hindu? Indian? American?

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter starts by briefly decluttering how religion is defined through western theistic attributes, then explores students’ Hindu experiences while centering a counter socio‐religio‐cultural narrative of lived religion. I look into systemic institutional misalignments stemming from white Christian supremacy and lastly, aspects of student leadership on campuses. The chapter closes with critical reflections on scholar‐practitioner essays that address campus dynamics and my recommendations therefrom.Practical Takeaways Supporting Hindu students requires a deeper understanding of Hindu traditions’ sociological, historical, and geographical roots as well as its contemporary manifestations in the US American diaspora and its complex relations to transnational social constructs. Decentering white Christian manifestations in higher education settings for Hindu students can look like not requiring proof of “authenticity” for observances, alleviating programming and facilities hurdles, providing resources for physical spaces or offering reliable rides to places of worship, accommodating lacto‐vegetarian dietary needs, hiring dedicated staff that equitably enhance the internal diversity, and expanding interfaith engagements beyond Abrahamic faiths to include variably‐denominated Hindus. Developing inter‐functional‐area policies to redress multiple layers of marginalized religious, spiritual, and secular identities in their relations to other identities including race, caste, ethnicity, tribe, gender, (dis)ability, sexuality, and class. This includes critically interrogating internalized forms of oppression.