Aruna Srivastava

Aruna Srivastava, BA, MA, PhD
UCalgary associate professor, leader for Indigenous teaching and learning

Aruna Srivastava, PhD, is an advocate and leader for Indigenous teaching and learning, and for social justice. She joined the University of Calgary in 1992 as an assistant professor with a BA and MA from the University of Waterloo and a PhD from McMaster University. Her work has focused on feminism, race theory and anti-racism, pedagogy, postcolonial and Indigenous studies.

In addition to serving on many departmental, faculty and university committees, Srivastava served for six years as undergraduate program director in the Department of English and was graduate program director from 2014 to 2017. She has been co-ordinator of the Faculty of Arts International Indigenous Studies program since 2013, and special advisor to the Faculty of Graduate Studies on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion since 2017.

Srivastava has been instrumental in bringing issues of Indigenous education into discussion on campus, serving on the Aboriginal Students Policy Standing Committee and the Indigenous Knowledge and Research Protocol sub-committee. She has mentored numerous Indigenous students through an educational system that is often not flexible enough to respond to their unique needs. In 1996 and 2015, Srivastava was presented with the Rev. Dr. Chief John Snow Sr. Award for providing significant support and mentorship to Indigenous students. Most recently, she has contributed her wisdom and expertise to the Working Group for ii’ taa’ poh’ to’ p, UCalgary’s Indigenous Strategy.

Srivastava has articulated issues that affect many students, whether grounded in cultural background, race, or disability: This has informed her perspectives working in both graduate and undergraduate contexts, and reinforced the kind of leadership and advocacy that inspires students, faculty and institutions to become more inclusive and equitable.