Dr. Bowling is an international education leader with 25 years spanning academic and student affairs across P-20 settings in the U.S. and globally. Currently the Principal of Pan American School: The International School of Porto Alegre, Brazil, she previously served as the Worldview Research Director of OSU’s College Impact Lab (CoIL). Her research interests are comparative international education, internationalization, educational leadership, religious worldview education, global learning, decolonizing practices, and international education policy.
Past Projects
Framing Global Diversity Leadership
with Nicholas Rodgers & Hannah Lewis, OSU
Worldview Diversity Education at Global Liberal Arts Colleges & Universities
Interfaith Spiritual, Religious, and Secular (INSPIRES) Index
with Matthew Mayhew, OSU & Alyssa Rockenbach, NC State
InFORM: Including Faculty on Religious, Spiritual and Secular Mattering
with Matthew Mayhew, OSU
Interfaith Diversity, Attitudes, and Experiences Survey U.K.
with Kristin Aune, Coventry University, Mathew Guest, Durham University, Lucy Peacock, Oxford University, Matthew Mayhew, OSU, Alyssa Rockenbach, NC State, and Ashley Staples, Stony Brook University
Whose Job Is It? The Location of Support for Religious Diversity at Public Flagship Universities
with Musbah Shaheen, UMASS Amherst
Selected Publications
Bowling, R. L., Yong, S.Y.A., Stanfield, D., and Tang, G. (In press). “Using co-curriculum to create and assess global community: The case of Yale-NUS College.” In NASPA Global Division Monograph.
Bowling, R. L. (In press). “Book Review: Everyday encounters: Humanizing dialogue in theory and practice” by Hans Gustafson. Journal of Interreligious Studies.
Bowling, R. L., Staples, B. A., Mahyew, M. J., Rockenbach, A. N., Guest, M., Aune, K., Peacock, L. (In press, anticipated Feb. 2026). Comparisons across higher education contexts: Findings from collaboratively adapting an interfaith diversity study. Comparative Education Review, 70(1).
Bowling, R. L. (2025). “They don’t even know how ethnocentric they’re being”: Comparative approaches to worldview diversity education. Journal of Studies in International Education, 29(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/10283153251316925
Bowling, R. L. (2025). Including religious worldviews in global learning. AIEA Series on Collaboration and Engagement in International Education. https://www.aieaworld.org/sj-jedi.html#gsc.tab=0
Bowling, R. L. (2025). “Decolonizing religious education in international schools” [Ch. 3], In Lucinda Mosher, Christine Gallagher, & Axel Takacs’ (Eds.) Interreligious studies and secondary education: Pedagogies and practices for living and learning in a religiously plural world, pp. 19-29. Interreligious Studies Press. https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params=phaBwjLqVmH4BHmI5vt3IbXSL7DBv07IycYiEyCocOM
Bowling, R. L. & Mayhew, M. J. (2025, March 20). “Hasty or Informed Adjustments?” Interfaith America Magazine. https://www.interfaithamerica.org/article/hasty-or-informed-adjustments/
Mayhew, M. J., Gill-Morris, A., Haddad, H., & Bowling, R. L. (2025, July 15). How universities can keep protests from turning violent: Three lessons from the 2024 pro-Palestinian encampments. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/how-universities-can-keep-protests-from-turning-violent-3-lessons-from-the-2024-pro-palestinian-encampments-252278
Bowling, R.L. & Mayhew, M. J. (2025, February 26). What should boards do? Assessing campus climates and policies for religious students. AGB. https://agb.org/blog-post/what-should-boards-do-assessing-campus-climates-and-policies-for-religious-students/
Bowling, R. L. & Mayhew, M. J. (2025, January 7). Improving campus climates for diverse worldviews. Academe. American Association of University Professors. https://academeblog.org/2025/01/07/improving-campus-climates-for-diverse-worldviews/
Creighton, J. (Host). (2025, November). Supporting student spiritual development and religious diversity on campus. SA: Voices from the Field (Season 11, episode 10). [Audio podcast]. https://naspa.org/project/sa-voices-from-the-field
Bowling, R. L. & Dahl, L. S. (2024). Building a spiritual home on campus. Journal of College Admission, Winter 2024, 16-19.
Combs, L. D. & Bowling, R. L. (2024). “Liminality as a necessary companion to intersectionality”, In Donald Mitchell, Jr., Jakia Marie, and Patricia Carver (Eds.) Intersectionality & Higher Education: Theory, Research and Praxis (3rd ed.). Peter Lang Group AG.
Bowling, R. L. (2023). Worldview diversity education at global liberal arts colleges & universities [Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1700155025359695
Bowling, R. L. (2023). Worldview Diversity Education at Global Liberal Arts Colleges & Universities (Order No. 31277109) ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. https://www.proquest.com/docview/3038955177?sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses
Bowling, R. (2023). Global liberal arts colleges and universities: A source of critical hope? Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.32674/jcihe.v15i1.4506
Bowling, R. L. and Combs, L. D. (2023). Liminality as a third wave conceptual framework. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, published online March 9, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1080/19496591.2022.2150974
Bowling, R. L. (2023). Spiritual development theory and internationally mobile students. Journal of College and Character, 24(1), 69-77. https://doi.org/10.1080/2194587X.2022.2157441
Bowling, R. (2023). Worldview diversity education at global liberal arts campuses. Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education, 14(5A), 7–13. https://doi.org/10.32674/jcihe.v14i5A.5065
Bowling, R. L., Dahl, L., & Mayhew, M. J. (2023). Index measures campus efforts to create welcoming environments for religious and non-religious diversity. Admitted blog, NACAC (November 30, 2023). https://admitted.nacacnet.org/wordpress/index.php/2023/11/30/index-measures-campus-efforts-to-create-welcoming-environments-for-religious-and-non-religious-diversity/
Bowling, R. L. (2022). Inclusive internationalization: What about religion & spirituality? In H. de Wit, G. Blanco, & E. Buckner (Eds.), Proceedings of the WES-CIHE Summer Institute 2022. CIHE Perspectives, 21. https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/bc1/schools/lsoe/sites/cihe/Perspectives%20No.%2021.pdf
Bowling, R. L. (2021). Religious literacy and interfaith cooperation: Toward a common understanding, Religious Education, October 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/00344087.2021.1983286
Mayhew, M. J., Winkler, C., Rockenbach, A. N., & Bowling, R. L. (2023). You don’t get to say what I believe, I do: Provocative encounters as catalysts for self-authored worldview commitments during college. Journal of Higher Education, [published online Apr. 23, 2023]. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2023.2171207
Recent Presentations
“Framing Global Diversity Leadership”, CIES 2025
“Gender and Global Higher Education Leadership in the Digital Age” Panelist, hosted by Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs at Northwestern University 2025
“Worldview Diversity Education Practices”, CIES 2025
“Leading the Way: Engaging with Religious Difference” Flash Talk, NASPA International Symposium 2025
“Courageous Thinking and Leadership”, NASPA 2025 hosted with the Spirituality & Religion in HE Knowledge Community
“Cultivating Institutional Changes Using the INSPIRES Campus Climate Index”, NASPA 2025 and ACSLHE 2025
“Approaches to Worldview Diversity: Findings from Global Liberal Arts Campuses”, Society for Cultural Interaction in East Asia 2024
“Decolonizing School Counseling,” IC3 Institute Keynote Address, 2024
“Emerging Research to Drive Equity-Based Change in International Education,” NASPA International Symposium 2024
Service
Editorial Board, Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice
Co-Chair, Comparative and International Education Society, Religion and Education in Society SIG
Policymakers & Influencers Working Group, World Council on Intercultural and Global Competence
Reviewer, Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education
Reviewer, Intercultural Connector
Reviewer, Religious Education
Past Chair, Spirituality & Religion Knowledge Community, NASPA
Awards
Best Practices in Research & Scholarship Award, NASPA International Education Knowledge Community, 2024
Porterfield-Dickens Award, OSU, 2023
Global Forum Grant, World Council on Intercultural and Global Competence, 2023
Career Development Grant, Council of Graduate Students, OSU, 2023
Sonkin-Bergman-Wasserman Families’ Scholarship for International Understanding and Peace, 2022
Comparative and International Education Society Travel Award, 2022, 2025
Susan R. Jones Award, The Ohio State University, 2022
Jack A. Culbertson Award, The Ohio State University, 2021
University Fellowship, The Ohio State University, 2020