Scholars and students gather for academic discussion on Hinduism at Rutgers

A section of the audience at a discussion of Hinduphobia at the March 30 conference at Rutgers University. ALL PHOTOS: organizers

New Brunswick, NJ, May 4, 2026: More than 75 students, scholars, educators, and community members came together for Demystifying Hinduism: Clarity Through Scholarship, a seminar organized at Rutgers University, by the Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) and the Rutgers chapter of its youth wing CYAN (CoHNA Youth Action Network), in partnership with the Rutgers Hindu Students Council (HSC) and the university’s Hindu Chaplaincy. The conference held on April 30, 2026, and featured distinguished academics, a press release from organizers said.

“The invigorating presentations, the pointed questions, the energetic panel discussion, the food, and the enthusiasm of my fellow students, all made for a memorable day,” said Dhyey Ray, president of CYAN Rutgers and a senior in Biomedical Engineering. “I came away energized by the passion of the panelists and attendees, and with so much clarity on how to understand my faith and use it to guide important questions in life as I get ready to graduate.”

Organizers and participants at the Hinduism and Hinduphobia conference held in Rutgers University March 30, 2026.

Professor of Indian History and Religions at Shawnee State University Dr. Lavanya Vemsani, examined how the stories of prominent Hindu women have been presented in contemporary academic texts, media and popular culture. The talk explored what Vemsani sees as sexual objectification in the portrayal of several powerful and well-known figures from Savitri, Urvashi, and Ganga to Satyavati, Kunti, and Draupadi. She saw these “distortions” as having a wide-ranging impact, especially on young Hindus and their understanding of their own history.

Dr. Jeffery D. Long, Professor of Indian Philosophies at Elizabethtown College and a widely published scholar on Hinduism, traced the history of Dharmic influences in the West. Drawing on the likes of George Harrison, Julia Roberts, and J.D. Salinger, as well as M*A*S*H and Star Wars, Prof. Long aimed to show Hindu thought has left its mark on some of the most beloved cultural touchstones of the West.

The seminar also featured an informative session with Neil Desai, a high school history teacher, on what he saw as Hinduphobia manifesting itself in academic settings over the years.

The event closed with a student-moderated panel discussion covering a wide range of questions — from historical research to textual representation of Hinduism to issues directly impacting Hindu students on campus like the persistence of tropes around caste, atheism, pluralism in Hindu Dharma, misogyny, and menstruation.

“For over a year, the CYAN and HSC teams on campus have been working hard to create an authentic space where scholars and students could discuss and debate the Hindu faith,” said Shyam Kumar, a junior majoring in Political Science at Rutgers and vice president of CYAN. “I was thrilled to see the results at Demystifying Hinduism, where we created a unique and refreshing counterpoint to the discourse we normally hear about Hinduism.”