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Honors Tutorial College
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Dr. Brian Collins, portrait
Ohio Expert

Brian Collins

he/him
Professor & Drs. Ram and Sushila Gawande Chair in Indian Religion and Philosophy, Honors Tutorial College Director of Studies for CARS
Center for International Studies
Classics and Religious Studies
School of International Studies and Languages
740-597-2103
Ellis 234
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Education

  • Ph.D. in History of Religions, University of Chicago (2010)
  • M.A. in History of Religions, University of Chicago (2003)
  • B.A. in Psychology, North Carolina State University (2001)
  • B.A. in Religious Studies, North Carolina State University (2001)

Areas of Expertise

  • Hinduism
  • Buddhism

Research Interests

  • Religions of South Asia from 3000 BCE to the Present
  • The Haunting and Human Sacrifice Complex
  • Religion, the Paranormal, and the Occult in Horror Cinema and Literature
  • Comparative Indo-European Mythology
  • Metamodernism, Metamodernity, and Religion
  • Religion in Psychedelic, Progressive, Electronic, and Heavy Metal Music
  • Psychoanalytic and Structuralist Readings of Myth
  • The History of the History of Religions
  • Mimetic Theory and Religious Studies

Courses Taught

  • CARS 2400 Introduction to the Study of Religion
  • CARS 2410 The Global Occult: Ghosts, Demonology, and the Paranormal in World Religions
  • CARS 2430 The History of Yoga: From Ancient Discipline to Modern Movement
  • CARS 3100 Hinduism
  • CARS 3110 Buddhism
  • CARS 3130 Indian Epic: Mahābhārata and Rāmayāṇa
  • CARS 3260 Myth, Ritual, and Symbolism
  • CARS 4000 Magic, Sorcery and Witchcraft in Classical Civilizations and the World's Religions
  • CARS 4900 Religious Traditions of India (Study Abroad Course)

Teaching Interests

  • Hinduism
  • Buddhism
  • Religion, the Occult, and the Paranormal
  • Magic and Witchcraft
  • Sanskrit Epics
  • Comparative Mythology
  • Yoga and Other Indian Philosophical Traditions
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Biography

Ohio University faculty member since 2013.

I received my PhD in 2010 from the University of Chicago Divinity School, where I was trained as an historian of religions focused on Hinduism and Buddhism. In 2013 I became the first person to hold the Drs. Ram and Sushila Gawande Chair in Indian Religion and Philosophy in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies. Since then, I have been able to share what I find most fascinating and illuminating about these traditions with Ohio University students. I have been able to do this both in the classroom and in the field in India (where I have led three study aboard trips).

College is unique in giving students the time, space, and tools to really figure what is valuable and meaningful to them. Unless we know what is valuable and meaningful to us, we cannot make considered decisions about any aspect of our lives. Religion is one part of human culture that is focused on these ultimate questions, a fact that has driven a number of students (myself included) to the study of comparative religion. Like many of my students today, I quickly developed a restless curiosity about the wide variety of religious beliefs and practices throughout history and around the world in my first religion class. Today, this same restless curiosity drives me to teach an ever-expanding range of religion-related topics, from Tibetan Buddhism to Appalachian Spiritualism, and to try to understand the countless ways people "do religion," whether I’m at a ghost-god’s shrine in Sindhudurg or a music festival in Colorado.

My Books

Am I in Heaven? King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s Metamodern Music and Mythology. Bloomsbury, in press.

My latest book is a study of the prolific and polymorphous Australian rock band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, known for their Deadhead-like followers, marathon concert performances, and the expansive mythological storyworld they have developed over 27 albums (and counting). Based on listening to many hours of recordings, interviewing band and community members, and attending eleven concerts in 2025-2026 I analyze that band’s themes of climate catastrophe, planetary consciousness, black magic, the Rainbow Serpent of Aboriginal myth, and microtonality as political theology. As I see it, the KGLW phenomena arises out of our flattened media landscape of "everything, everywhere, all at once," a generational response to the global ecological crisis, and a new kind of post-ironic fandom related to the rise of the "spiritual but not religious" demographic.

The Other Rāma: Matricide and Genocide in the Mythology of Paraśurāma. State University of New York Press, 2020.

Based on my 2010 dissertation, The Other Rāma is a study of the myths and rituals associated with Paraśurāma (AKA Rāma Jāmadagnya), a legendary Brahmin warrior and the sixth avatar of the Hindu god Viṣṇu, who is best known for decapitating his mother and killing 21 generations of warriors to avenge his father’s murder. Analyzing the transformation of the myth from its beginnings in the Mahābhārata epic around 1500 years ago to contemporary comic book versions, I conclude that it functions as an expression of the anxiety of the marginalized Brahmin at the social level and as an expression of a particular form of the Oedipal complex called the "Dead Mother Complex" at the unconscious level.

The Magic of the Combinatory Mind: The Forgotten Life of 20th Century Austrian Polymath Robert Eisler. Palgrave Pivot, 2020.

This book is an intellectual biography of Robert Eisler, a largely forgotten Viennese religion scholar, art historian, economist, and Holocaust survivor who spent his career advocating for counterintuitive positions about monetary theory, who wrote the Gospel of John, and whether or not we have an eyewitness description of what Jesus looked like. He died in England in 1949 shortly after publishing Man into Wolf: An Anthropological Interpretation of Sadism, Masochism, and Lycanthropy, which is a truly bizarre and fascinating little book. This project was also the basis of my 2020 podcast and an afterword I wrote for the second Italian translation of Man into Wolf.
The Head Beneath the Altar: Hindu Mythology and the Critique of Sacrifice. Michigan State University Press, 2014.

My first book was the first wide-ranging study of Hindu mythology through the lens of René Girard’s "mimetic theory" of the violent sacrificial origin of religion and culture. In it, I examined Vedic ritual, the sacrificial imagery of the Mahābhārata epic, and the Sanskrit version of the story of Abraham and Isaac. I ultimately concluded that the Hindu tradition contains a critique of ritual killing and scapegoating from its early development and that this critique sets the stage for the radical non-violence in later Indian traditions.

My Podcast

"A Very Square Peg: A Podcast About Austrian Polymath Robert Eisler." June 2020. New Books Network.

Journal Article, Academic Journal (3)

  • Collins, B. Topographies of Mind and Mahābhārata: Rethinking Alf Hiltebeitel’s Epic Scholarship Through His Late Engagement with Freud . International Journal of Hindu Studies.
  • Tobey, K. (2018). “From Middlemarch to The Da Vinci Code: Portrayals of Religious Studies in Popular Culture.” . 3. Houston, Texas: Religious Studies Review; 107: 173-182. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/17480922.
  • Collins, B. (2013). The Sacrificial Ram and the Swan Queen: Mimetic Theory Fades to Black. 1. Lansing, Michigan: Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis and Culture; 20: 207-237. https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/contagion/v020/20.collins.html.

Book, Scholarly (5)

  • Collins, B. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard's Metamodern Music and Mythology 2010-2025. London: Bloomsbury.
  • Collins, B. (2021). Robert Eisler and the Magic of the Combinatory Mind: The Forgotten Life of a 20th-Century Austrian Polymath.
  • Collins, B. (2020). The Other Rāma: Matricide and Genocide in the Mythology of Paraśurāma.
  • Collins, B. (2018). The Other Rāma: Matricide and Genocide in the Mythology of Paraśurāma. . Albany, NY: SUNY Press; https://www.sunypress.edu/.
  • Collins, B. (2014). The Head Beneath the Altar: Hindu Mythology and the Critique of Sacrifice. Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Press; 320. https://msupress.org/books/book/?id=50-1D0-3439#.UqDFylO9YjA.

Book, Chapter in Scholarly Book (9)

  • Collins, B. (2026). Hinduism and Buddhism. London: Bloomsbury.
  • Collins, B. “The Beginning Is a Shipwreck”: Transformations of the Mahābhārata in Roberto Calasso’s Magnum Opus. London: Routledge.
  • Collins, B. (2023). The Ambā-Upākhyāna Reconsidered: Reading Ambā’s Story as Part of the Rāma Jāmadagnya Myth Cycle..
  • Collins, B. (2022). Myth. Wiley-Blackwell; 445-452.
  • Collins, B. (2022). The Ambā-Upākhyāna Reconsidered: Reading Ambā’s Story as Part of the Rāma Jāmadagnya Myth Cycle..
  • Collins, B. (2021). “Paraśurāma, Droṇa, and Aśvatthāman: A Comparative Study of Brahmin Warriors in the Mahābhārata.” . Lugano: Agora & Co.; 177-193.
  • Collins, B. (2021). “The Ambā-Upākhyāna Reconsidered: Reading Ambā’s Story as Part of the Rāma Jāmadagnya Myth Cycle.” . Canberra: Australian National University Press.
  • Collins, B. (2015). Burning Desires, Burning Corpses: Girardian Reflections on Fire in Hinduism and Buddhism. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press.
  • Collins, B. (2013). A Voice and Something More: Jigsaw as Acousmetre and Existential Guru. Jefferson, NC: McFarland; 86-104.

Conference Proceeding (1)

  • Collins, B. (2023). Lord Veṭāḷ: Konkan Ghost-God and Exemplar of the Haunting and Human Sacrifice Complex.”.

Blog (2)

Book, Chapter in Non-Scholarly Book (1)

  • Collins, B. (2019). “Un pezzo troppo quadrato: la vita e l’opera di Robert Eisler” [“A Very Square Peg: The Life and Work of Robert Eisler”]. . Milan: Adelphi Edizioni; 323-391. https://www.adelphi.it/libro/9788845933721.

Online Article (1)

  • Collins, B. (2022). Rāma Jāmadagnya/Paraśurāma.

Other (20)

  • Collins, B. (2022). “Explaining, Interpreting, and Theorizing Religion and Myth: Contributions in Honor of Robert A. Segal. Edited by Nickolas P. Roubekas and Thomas Ryba.” . 2. Religious Studies Review; 48: 248.
  • Collins, B. (2021). “How God Becomes Real: Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others. By T. M. Luhrmann.” . 3. Religious Studies Review ; 47.
  • Collins, B. (2021). “Method Today: Redescribing Approaches to the Study of Religion. Edited by Brad Stoddard.” . 2. Religious Studies Review ; 47: 214-215. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rsr.15214.
  • Collins, B. (2021). “Origins of the Witches’ Sabbath. By Michael D. Bailey.” . 2. Religious Studies Review ; 47: 213. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rsr.15180.
  • Collins, B. (2018). Homa Variations: The Study of Ritual Change Across the Longue Durée. Edited by Richard K. Payne and Michael Witzel. . 4. Religious Studies Review; 44: 449.
  • Collins, B. (2018). Religion, Theory, Critique: Classic and Contemporary Approaches and Methodologies. Edited by Richard King. . 4. Religious Studies Review; 44: 450.
  • Collins, B. (2018). Ritual Gone Wrong: What we Learn from Ritual Disruption. By Kathryn T. McClymond.. 4. Religious Studies Review; 44: 451.
  • Collins, B. (2018). The Returns of Fetishism: Charles De Brosses and the Afterlives of an Idea. With a New Translation of On the Worship of Fetish Gods. By Charles de Brosses, Rosalind C. Morris, and Daniel H. Leonard. . 4. Religious Studies Review; 44: 450-451.
  • Collins, B. (2018). “New Patterns for Comparative Religion: Passages to an Evolutionary Perspective. By Willian E. Paden.” . 4. Religious Studies Review; 44: 449-50. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17480922/2018/44/4.
  • Collins, B. (2018). ELLIPSIS... THE COLLECTED WRITINGS OF CHARLES H. LONG. By Charles H. Long.. 3. Religious Studies Review; 44: 316.
  • Collins, B. (2018). WHY RELIGIONS MATTER. By Bowker John. . 3. Religious Studies Review; 44: 316.
  • Collins, B. (2018). “A Very Square Peg: The Life and Work of Robert Eisler.” . Milan: Adelphi Edizioni; https://www.adelphi.it/.
  • Collins, B. (2018). Myth.
  • Collins, B. (2018). AFTER WORLD RELIGIONS: RECONSTRUCTING RELIGIOUS STUDIES. Edited by Christopher R. Cotter and David G. Robertson.. 2. Religious Studies Review; 44: 207.
  • Collins, B. (2018). HOMO RITUALIS: HINDU RITUAL AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR RITUAL THEORY. By Axel Michaels. 2. Religious Studies Review; 44: 207-208.
  • Collins, B. (2018). LOVE OF RUINS: LETTERS ON LOVECRAFT. By Scott Cutler Shershow and Scott Michaelsen.. 2. Religious Studies Review; 44: 208-209.
  • Collins, B. (2015). Game of Thrones – Created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss . 4. Houston, TX: Religious Studies Review; 41: 186. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rsr.12208/abstract.
  • Collins, B. (2015). Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief – Directed by Alex Gibney. 3. Houston, TX: Religious Studies Review; 41: 107. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rsr.12208/abstract.
  • Collins, B. (2015). Orange is the New Black – Created by Jenji Kohan . 4. Houston, TX: Religious Studies Review; 41: 186-7. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rsr.12208/abstract.
  • Collins, B. (2015). True Detective: Season One – Created by Nic Pizzolatto. 3. Houston, TX: Religious Studies Review; 41: 108. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rsr.12208/abstract.

Published Book Review (17)

  • Collins, B. (2023). “The ‘Early Medieval’ Origins of India. By Manu V. Devadevan.”. Religion.
  • Collins, B. Lightning Bugs and Fireflies: Can Metamodernism Help Us Do Better Comparative Mythology?. 4. Religious Studies Review; 48.
  • Collins, B. (2022). “Biblical Boogeymen, Holy Ghosts, and the New Demonology: A Review of Three Recent Books on Religion and Horror—Brandon R. Grafius, Reading the Bible with Horror; Brandon R. Grafius and John Morehead (eds.), Theology and Horror: Explorations of the Dark Religious Imagination; and Steve A. Wiggins, Nightmares with the Bible: The Good Book and Cinematic Demons.”. 2. Journal of Religion and Film; 26: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol26/iss2/10.
  • Collins, B. (2022). A Response to Sovereignty and the Sacred in Three Parts.. 3. Religious Studies Review; 48.
  • Collins, B. (2021). “Of Demons and Disciplines: Old Thiess, a Livonian Werewolf: A Classic Case in Comparative Perspective by Carlo Ginzburg and Bruce Lincoln and Daemons Are Forever: Contacts and Exchanges in the Eurasian Pandemonium by David Gordon White.” . 1. Houston, TX: Religious Studies Review; 47: 5-14. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rsr.15031.
  • Collins, B. (2019). “Religion: Sources, Perspectives, and Methodologies. Ed. Jeffrey J. Kripal.” . 2. Wiley; 45: 131-133. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/17480922.
  • Collins, B. (2018). “Crossing the Lines of Caste: Viśvāmitra and the Construction of Brahmin Power in Hindu Mythology by Adheesh A. Sathaye.” . 3. International Journal of Hindu Studies; 22: 541-542.
  • Collins, B. (2016). Review of HUDSON, EMILY T. Disorienting Dharma: Ethics and the Aesthetics of Suffering in the Mahabharata. AAR Reflection and Theory in the Study of Religion Series. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.. 2. Chicago, IL: The Journal of Religion; 96: 273-275.
  • Collins, B. (2015). Review of Brahman: A Study in the Solar Rituals of the Indo-Europeans by Alexander Jacob.. 1. Oxford: The Journal of Hindu Studies; 8: 155-157. https://jhs.oxfordjournals.org/content/current.
  • Collins, B. (2015). Ardor by Roberto Calasso. The Bulletin of the Colloquium on Violence & Religion; 46: 11-13.
  • Collins, B. (2015). Egyptian Oedipus: Athanasius Kircher and the Secrets of Antiquity – By Daniel Stolzenberg (page 54). 2. Houston, TX: Religious Studies Review; 41: 54. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rsr.12208/abstract.
  • Collins, B. (2015). The Nay Science: A History of German Indology. By Vishwa Adluri and Joydeep Bagchee. . 2. Houston, TX: Religious Studies Review; 41: 53-54. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rsr.12208/abstract.
  • Collins, B. (2015). Review of Brahman: A Study of the Solar Rituals of the Indo-Europeans by Alexander Jacob. Oxford: Journal of Hindu Studies; https://jhs.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/03/22/jhs.hiv008.
  • Collins, B. (2014). Review of The One By Whom Scandal Comes by Rene Girard. Chicago, Illinois: History of Religions; https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/journals/journal/hr.html.
  • Collins, B. (2013). “Strong Arms and Drinking Strength: Masculinity, Violence, and the Body in Ancient India by Jarrod L. Whitaker.” . 1. Chicago, IL: History of Religions; 53: 105-107. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/671254.
  • Collins, B. (2013). “Invoking Lakshmi: The Goddess of Wealth in Song and Ceremony by Constantina Rhodes.” . 1. International Journal of Hindu Studies; 17: 118-120. https://download.springer.com/static/pdf/34/art%253A10.1007%252Fs11407-013-9134-6.pdf?auth66=1387123751_534127175906764f935b93a109e111f1&ext=.pdf.
  • Collins, B. (2013). “Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities: Sustenance and Sustainability by Pankaj Jain.” . 1. Honolulu, Hawaii: Philosophy East and West; 63: 92-95. https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/philosophy_east_and_west/v063/63.1.collins.html.