Curriculum Vitae
Education
Ph.D. Women Studies, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
2008
B.A. Mathematics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
1996
Academic Appointments
Associate Professor, Women’s Spirituality Program, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA
2018-Present
Assistant Professor, Women’s Spirituality Program, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA
2011-2018
Administrative Positions
Interim Department Chair, Women's Spirituality
California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA
January-July 2021
Department Chair, Women's Spirituality
California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA
2012-2016
Director, Women’s Center, Student Affairs Division
UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
2008-2010
Director, Education and Research Programs
Office of Faculty Advancement and Diversity Research Institute
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
2007-2008
Assistant Director, Center for Curriculum Transformation
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
2006-2007
Teaching Experience
Core Faculty, Women’s Spirituality
California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA
2011-Present
MA and PhD courses taught include:
Womanist, Feminist, and Decolonial Worldviews
Teaching to Transform: Liberatory Feminist Education
Spiritual Activism and Transformative Social Change
Cultivating Conscious Leadership among Women
Animal Ethics: Spiritual, Ecological, and Philosophical Perspectives
Sacred Lineages: Goddesses, Foremothers, and Activists
Women’s Spirituality Research Methodologies
Women and World Religions (co-taught)
Building Conscious Allyship
MA Integrative Seminar
Foundational Elements of Academic Research and Writing
Graduate Student Instructor, Women Studies
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
2001-2006
Instructional Consultant
Center for Instructional Development and Research, UW, Seattle, WA
2001-2005
Provided individualized consultations to graduate student instructors and led campus-wide presentations on effective pedagogy.
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Women Studies
Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA
1999-2006
Publications
Arora, Alka. “Pedagogy of the Consumed: An Integral Feminist Lens on Veganism in Higher Education.” In Feminist Animal and Multispecies Studies: Critical Perspecives on Food and Eating, edited by Kadri Aavik, Kuura Irni and Milla-Maria Joki. Brill Publishers. [in press]
Arora, Alka. “Feminism and Spiritual Citizenship.” Tarka: Journal of Embodied Philosophy, Issue #6. [in press]
Arora, Alka, Sherri Taylor, Sara Salazar, May Elawar, and Joanne Gozawa. 2021. “Pandemic Pedagogy: Narratives of Vulnerability, Grace, and Rebellion.” In Lessons from the Pandemic: Trauma-Informed Approaches to College, Crisis, Change, edited by Janice Carello and Phyllis Thompson. New York, NY: Palgrave.
Arora, Alka, May Elawar, and Serena Cheng. 2019. “Socially Conscious Leadership: An Integrated Model.” Journal of Leadership Studies, 13: 38-43. doi:10.1002/jls.21662.
Arora, Alka. 2018. “Re-Enchanting Feminism: Challenging Religious and Secular Patriarchies.” In Postsecular Feminisms: Religion and Gender in Transnational Context, edited by Nandini Deo, 32-51. Oxford: Bloomsbury Press.
Arora, Alka. 2017. “Women’s Spirituality at CIIS: Uniting Integral and Feminist Pedagogies.” Integral Review, Vol. 13. No. 1 July.
Arora, Alka. 2016. "Justice for Just Us?" Tikkun 31, no. 1: 30-35.
Arora, Alka, and May Elawar. 2015. "Questioning God: A Spiritual Feminist Dialogue." CrossCurrents 65, no. 4: 457-68.
Arora, Alka. “Aligning in Socially Transformative Courses.” 2005. In Aligning for Learning: Strategies for Teaching Effectiveness, edited by Donald Wulff, 147-161. Bolton, MA: Anker Books.
Podcasts and Recorded Workshops
Arora, A. (2021). “Sacred Feminism: Healing, Wisdom, and Social Justice.” (Online Workshop). Spiritual Citizenship Conference, Hosted by Embodied Philosophy. July 2021. https://www.embodiedphilosophy.com/author/alka-arora/
Arora, A. (2020). “Birthing the New Feminism: Healing, Ecology, and Sacred Activism.” (Online workshop) Hosted by Birth Bruja. Recorded June 20, 2020. https://www.birthbruja.com/store/p5/Birthing_the_New_Feminism%3A_Healing%2C_Ecology_%26_Sacred_Activism.html#/
Arora, Alka. (2020) Interviewer. “Larry Ward: Healing America’s Racial Karma.” CIIS Public Programs Podcast. Recorded Oct 6, 2020. https://www.ciispod.com/larry-ward.
Arora, Alka. (2020). Interviewer. “Missed Translations: An Online Conversation with Sopan Deb and Alka Arora.” CIIS Public Programs Podcast. Recorded June 3, 2020. https://www.ciispod.com/sopandeb/
Arora, A. (2019). On Feminism’s Fourth Wave. CIIS Public Programs Podcast. Recorded August 2019. Recorded August 29, 2019. https://soundcloud.com/publicprograms/alka-arora-on-feminisms-fourth-wave
Conference Papers, Invited Talks, and Workshops
Invited Panelist: “Awakening to the Divine Feminine.” Women’s Spiritual Leadership for the 21st Century, Hosted by Dawn of Interspirituality. Online, March.
2022
Workshop Leader: “Tending the Wounds of Gender: A Deep Listening Workshop.” Deep Listening for Social Change Project, Clouds in Water Zen Center. February.
2022
Panelist: “On Ecospirituality and Environmental Activism.” Panel Title: On Spiritual Citizenship, Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Virtual Portion. November.
2021
Panel Presentation: “Waking up to an Animate World: Ecology, Animals, and Ahimsa, Panel on Eco-Spirituality. Spiritual Citizenship Conference, Hosted by Embodied Philosophy. July.
2021
Paper: “Shifted Pedagogical Paradigms: Veganism and Social Justice Education.” Presented at Veganism: A Paradigm Shift, International Multidisciplinary Virtual Conference, June.
2021
Paper: “Toward an Integrated and Engaged Buddhist Vision of Animal Ethics.” Panel on Buddhism and Animal Ethics, Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion. Virtualized. November.
2020
Paper: “Leading in Her Footsteps: The Influence of Spiritual Feminist Worldviews on Women’s Leadership.” Panel: Pushing the Edges of Spiritual Worldviews to Enhance Women’s Leadership Advancement. Annual Meeting of the International Leadership Association (ILA). Virtualized. November.
2020
Workshop: “Developing Anti-Racist Culture and Commitments at CIIS,” Hosted by Office of Diversity and Inclusion. California Institute of Integral Studies. June.
2020
Workshop: Global GERI Connect, Co-facilitator of Gender Equity and Reconciliation International online workshop. May.
2020
Paper: Healing the Wounds of Gender: The Power of an Open Heart. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA), San Francisco, CA. November.
2019
Paper: Protesting Speciesism: Feminism, Animal Agency, and Natural Justice. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA), San Francisco, CA. November.
2019
Keynote Speaker: Fourth Wave Feminism and the Climate Crisis. Presentation at the Climate and Sex Symposium in Oakland, CA.
2019
Workshop: From #Me Too to #We Too: Healing Between Women and Men in Community. Co-facilitator for Gender Equity and Reconciliation International Workshop, Santa Fe, NM.
2019
Panel Presentation: “Justice for Just Us? Extending the Moral Circle to Include Animals,” Parliament of World Religions, Toronto, ON, Canada. November.
2018
Invited Presentation: “Time’s Up on Meat Eating: A Vegan Ecofeminist Manifesto,” Religion and Ecology Summit, CIIS, San Francisco, CA. March.
2018
Invited Plenary Speaker: “Telling the Truth and Opening our Hearts: Women and Men Unlearning Patriarchy Together,” Women Rising: New Visions for a Post-Patriarchal World, CIIS, San Francisco, CA, October.
2018
Paper: “My Relatives are Animals: Reclaiming Kinship between Human and Non-Human Creatures,” Women Rising: New Visions for a Post-Patriarchal World, CIIS, San Francisco, CA, October.
2018
Workshop: “Spirituality and Social Justice: An Integral View” (co-facilitator), CIIS Founders’ Symposium, CIIS, San Francisco, CA, April.
2017
Invited Campus Presentation: “Expanding the Frame: Feminist and Liberation Psychology” (Panel), Office of Diversity and Inclusion Lectures, CIIS, San Francisco, CA, November.
2016
Paper: “Integral Feminist Pedagogy,” Part of a panel titled “Pedagogies of the Sacred: Women of Color and Transformative Education," National Conference On Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE), San Francisco, CA, June.
2016
Paper: “Re-Enchanting Feminism: Challenging Religious and Secular Patriarchies,” Feminisms Beyond the Secular: Emerging Epistemologies and Politics in the 21st Century, Lehigh University, Bethlehem PA (presented online), March.
2016
Invited Presentation: “Waking up to Speciesism,” West Coast Ecofeminist Conference, Orange County, CA, July.
2015
Paper: “From Precarity to Possibility: Restorying the Feminist Classroom,” Part of a panel titled “Pedagogy in Precarious Times: Teaching Resistance, Resilience, and Love,” National Women Studies Association (NWSA) Annual Meeting, Milwaukee, WI, November.
2015
Roundtable Presentation: “Marketing our Programs in Precarious Times,” National Women Studies Association Administration and Development pre-conference, Milwaukee, WI, November.
2015
Invited Panelist: “Religious and Spiritual Inspiration and Empowerment for Women,” Parliament of World Religions, Salt Lake City, UT, October.
2015
Paper (co-presented): “Reclaiming a Sacred Relationship with All Beings: An Inter-spiritual Dialogue,” Parliament of World Religions, Salt Lake City, UT, October.
2015
Campus Presentation: “The Divine Feminist: Integrating Spirituality and Social Justice” (Panel), CIIS Founders’ Symposium, April.
2015
Roundtable Presentation: “Transcending Speciesism: Feminism and Animal Ethics,” National Women Studies Association, San Juan, Puerto Rico. November.
2014
Roundtable Presentation: “TITLE??", Research as Ceremony: Decolonizing Ethnic Studies," National Association of Ethnic Studies, Mills College, Oakland, CA, April.
2014
Invited Panelist: “Wisdom in the field of Women’s Spirituality,” Wisdom 2.0 Conference, CIIS, San Francisco, CA, February.
2014
Paper: “Trans-rational Feminist Praxis: Integrating the Spiritual, Political, and Personal,” Part of a panel titled "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House: Decolonizing Feminist Epistemologies via Spiritual Frameworks," National Women Studies Association Annual Meeting, Oakland, CA, November.
2012
Paper: “Envisioning the Fourth Wave: Young Women’s Creative Spiritual Activism,” Part of a panel titled "Transformative Activism: How Young Women’s Creativity and Spirituality is Re-Shaping the World," American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, November.
2012
Invited panelist: “Diverse Professional Perspectives,” related to the theme “Living Texts: Celebrating Feminist Perspectives on Theo/alogy, Authority, and the Sacred in the Academy.” American Academy of Religion, Western Region Annual Meeting, Santa Clara, CA, March.
2012
Workshop: “Leading from Spirit: Spiritual Activism and Visionary Leadership” (co-presenter), “Wo/men’s Conference 2012: Wo/men Engaging in Change,” Saint Mary’s College of California, Moraga, CA, March.
2012
Invited paper: “From Misappropriation to Solidarity: The Sacred Journey toward Political Engagement,” part of a panel titled “Cultural Appropriation: Instigations, Innovations, and Insights within Goddess Studies,” Association for the Study of Women in Mythology Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA, May.
2012
Invited Keynote Speaker: Spoke on conference theme of “Revolutionizing our Identities and Raising Consciousness,” Womyn of Color Conference (student-run), University of California, Santa Barbara, CA. April.
2010
Invited Paper: “Feminism and Spiritual Activism: Opening a Conversation,” Religions and Feminisms: Countering Mutual Silence, Seattle Pacific University, April.
2008
Invited Panel Presentation: “Women Studies: The State of the Discipline,” Panel for editorial board meeting of Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work, Seattle, WA, November.
2006
Paper: “Teaching with Critical and Feminist Pedagogies,” A Gathering by the Waters, 30th Annual Conference of the Professional and Organizational Developers Network, Milwaukee, WI. October.
2005
Paper: “Does Spirit Matter?: Examining Spirituality in the Lives of Seattle Feminists,” Women and the Environment: Globalizing and Mobilizing, National Women Studies Association, Orlando, FL. June.
2005
Paper: “Critical Hermeneutics as Feminist Method on Religion and Spirituality,” Feminist Epistemologies, Methods, Metaphysics, and Science Studies, University of Washington, November.
2004
Workshop: “Teacher as ‘Other’: TA’ing as a Woman of Color,” 2nd Annual Conference on Teaching and Learning, Center for Instructional Development and Research, University of Washington, September.
2004
Paper: “Teaching Feminist Theory in the New Millenium,” National Women Studies Association, New Orleans, LA. June.
2003
Paper: “Playing Earth Mother: The Misues of Native American Spirituality by non-Native Feminists,” Women Studies Section, Western Social Science Association, Las Vegas, NV. March.
2003
Presentation (co-presented): “Globalizing Feminist Theory: A Collaborative Process of Course Design,” One Step at a Time: Small Doable Acts, Worthwhile Results, 16th Annual Conference of the Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education, Seattle, WA. February.
2003
Presentation: “Designing an Inclusive Teaching Website” (co-presenter), Practicing What We Stand For: Access, Equity and Significant Student Learning, 15th Annual Conference of the Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education, Tacoma, WA, October.
2002
Service to Educational Institutions
California Institute of Integral Studies:
Faculty Representative, Presidential Search Committee
Fall 2020
Chair, Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Committee
2019-2020
Project Co-Leader, Curriculum Excellence Fellowship
2018-2019
Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Committee
2017-2019
Chair, Faculty Affairs Committee
2016-2018
Curriculum and Academic Review Committee
2013-2015
Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Committee
2011-2013
Center for Beloved Community Committee
2012-2013
University of California, Santa Barbara:
Co-Vice President, Professional Women’s Association
2009-2010
Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on the Status of Women
2008-2010
Intercollegiate Athletics Diversity Committee
2008-2010
Graduate Student Support Network
2008-2009
University of Washington:
Co-Chair, Faculty and Staff Advisory Board,
Graduate Opportunity and Minority Affairs Program
2007-2008
Teaching and Learning Consortium
2007-2008
Faculty Council on Instructional Quality, ex-officio member
2006-2008
Diversity Training Collective
2005-2006
Graduate Program Committee, Women Studies
2003-2004
