The VU School of Religion and Theology, part of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, is particularly proud of this international recognition of its scientists.
“In a time of institutional uncertainty challenged by the poly crisis and a growing need for ethical and inclusive leadership, multiple honors from the Management, Spirituality and Religion (MSR) Division underscore the university’s contributions to shaping the future of academia through integrative scholarship that embraces diversity, equity, inclusion and spiritual depth.”
Best Paper Award - MSR @ AOM
“Academic Freedom as Collective Capability: DEI and Spiritual Practices in Higher Education”, by Prof. Dr. Sharda Nandram, Dr. Gunjan Joshi, and Dr. Raysa Geaquinto Rocha
This groundbreaking paper reconceptualizes academic freedom as a collective, morally grounded institutional capability, rather than a solely individual right. It examines how university faculties around the world resist and transform neoliberal constraints by integrating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) frameworks and spiritual practices.
Through in-depth interviews with 30 academics across global higher education systems, the authors offer three new contributions:
The major contribution lies in the expansion of the classical, rights-based view of academic freedom. This model treats academic freedom as a dynamic ecosystem involving knowledge creation, institutional context, ethical values, and applied strategies.
The study shifts the paradigm from individualistic autonomy to communal empowerment including perspectives from DEI and Spirituality, seeing academic freedom as a vision of ethical duty, truth-seeking, and inner clarity. It offers practical strategies for higher education institutions seeking to foster inclusive, spiritually enriched academic environments that can withstand systemic pressure.
Lead author Prof. Dr. Sharda Nandram, Chief Diversity Officer and Professor of Hindu Spirituality and Society at VU, exemplifies this integration of scholarship, leadership, and spiritual insight. Her work brings Hindu philosophical frameworks into contemporary academic discourse highlighting how Indic traditions offer deep guidance for reimagining justice, resilience, and institutional transformation.
Best Symposium Award - MSR @ AOM
“Dharma-Inspired Management: Bridging Spirituality, Ethics and Leadership”
This Showcase Symposium, honored with the Best Symposium Award by the MSR Division, explored the enduring relevance of dharma, a foundational concept in Hindu philosophy, as a guiding force in modern management, ethical leadership, and institutional design. The session brought together perspectives on Ṛta (cosmic order), Aparigraha (non-possessiveness), Purushartha (life goals), and Indian professionalism, offering theoretical insights and lived examples from organizations like Buurtzorg. Panelists, including Prof. Satinder Dhiman, Dr. Puneet Bindlish, Prof. Dharm P. S. Bhawuk, and Prof. Dr. Sharda Nandram, emphasized how dharma-centric leadership can serve as a counterforce to fragmentation, and guide sustainability and purpose in organizations. Rather than viewing spirituality, expressed through Dharma, as separate from leadership, the symposium positioned it as a transformational framework for aligning individual purpose, institutional integrity, and social good.
Distinguished Service Award - MSR @ AOM
Prof. Dr. Sharda Nandram was also honored with the MSR Division’s Distinguished Service Award, recognizing her transformative leadership as Representative-at-Large for Research from August 2023 to August 2025. During her tenure, she developed a strategic research roadmap for MSR, initiated a global colloquium series to engage the academic community in spiritually grounded inquiry, and strengthened the division’s role as a home for integrative, future-facing scholarship. Recently she has been elected to join the Five Year track of the MSR Lead team where she starts as PDW (Professional Development Workshop) chair in the coming academic year.