Ohio State is in the process of revising websites and program materials to accurately reflect compliance with the law. While this work occurs, language referencing protected class status or other activities prohibited by Ohio Senate Bill 1 may still appear in some places. However, all programs and activities are being administered in compliance with federal and state law.

Kate Kaura

Kate Kaura in front of a red sandstone building in India

Kate Kaura

PhD Candidate and Graduate Teaching Associate
she/her/hers

kaura.7@osu.edu

Areas of Expertise

  • South Asian Studies
  • Religion & Spirituality
  • Yoga & Wellness Culture
  • Mental Health & Trauma Studies
  • Social Work & Social Justice
  • Postcolonial and Subaltern Studies
  • Feminist Theory

Education

  • Master's of Social Work: Social Justice, Ohio State University
  • Master's of the Arts, Comparative Studies: Religious Studies, Ohio State University
  • Bachelor of the Arts, Comparative Studies: Religious Studies, Ohio State University
  • American Institute of Indian Studies, Jaipur, India
  • Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in South Asian Studies
  • Minor in Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies

Biography and Research Interests

Kate Kaura is a Ph.D Candidate in the Department of Comparative Studies. Her academic and professional career centers on gender, religion, and social justice in South Asia, shaped by her undergraduate and master’s degrees in Comparative Studies at Ohio State University, language study in Hindi and Sanskrit, and years of living, researching, and volunteering across India. She completed a Master of Social Work at OSU, focusing on international social work, gender-based violence, and critical trauma studies. 

Her dissertation research examines how Hindu goddess imagery in digital spaces is mobilized, and at times, articulates competing visions of femininity and power. Despite India’s rich traditions of goddess worship, ongoing gender inequality reveals stark contradictions that drive the project. Through feminist theory, ethnographic interviews, and digital visual analysis, the study shows that the “digital goddess” is a contested and strategic site where essentialized femininity becomes a tool for activism, political messaging, and the renegotiation of gender in contemporary India.

Kate is also researching and writing an article on American spirituality and holistic forms of healing, with intersections in wellness culture, the divine feminine, trauma-informed yoga/somatic practices, and psychedelic-assisted therapy. Interviews with spiritual practitioners in Columbus, Ohio, will contribute to the ethnographic research.

 

Teaching Record

  • RELSTDS 2102 | Comparative Sacred Texts [Lecturer Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026; Recitation Instructor Spring 2017, Spring 2018]
  • RELSTDS 2370 | Introduction to Comparative Religion [Recitation Instructor Fall 2016, Fall 2017]
  • COMPSTD 1100 | Introduction to the Humanities, Comparative Studies [Fall 2018]

 

Publications 

  • [forthcoming] “The Digital Goddess: Divine Femininity and the Politics of Feminist Resistance in Online India” Dissertation, 2027
  • “The Body of the Goddess: Religious and Political Power of the Indian Female Body and Ruptures of Resistance” Master’s Thesis, 2018
  • “Tantric Sound: The Nondual Śaivism of Kashmir’s Manifestation and Liberation In Sanskrit Words, Deities, Tattvas, and Ćakras” Undergraduate Honors Thesis, 2008