Brainerd Prince

Brainerd Prince completed his PhD on Sri Aurobindo's Integral Philosophy from OCMS, Oxford, under Professor Gavin Flood, Professor of Hindu Studies, University of Oxford. He is presently a Research Tutor at OCMS, Oxford as well as a Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, a Recognized Independent Centre of Oxford University. He is also the Founding Director of Samvada Centre for Research Resources whose vision is to empower cultural traditions through postgraduate research.

His first book The Integral Philosophy of Aurobindo: Hermeneutics and the Study of Religion was published by Routledge in 2017. His educational background includes B. Com. (Business and Commerce, Delhi University), B.D. (Theology and Religions, UBS, Senate of Serampore) and PhD (Religious Studies and Hermeneutics, OCMS, Oxford).

He has also led international research projects which included fieldwork in Asia and Africa particularly on the theme of 'faith and development'. Apart from research design to documentation, these projects have led to the development of two handbooks to equip grassroots development workers in the areas of interfaith collaboration.

Brainerd's research interests include Research Skills and Methodologies, Philosophy of Religion, Religious-Secular Distinctions, Phenomenological Hermeneutics, Dialogism, Yoga and Philosophy of Action, the Academic study of Hinduism and Aurobindo's Integral Philosophy. He mentors and supervises graduate and PhD students in these research areas. He is keen to make philosophy accessible to everyday life and seeks to think beyond oppositional binaries such as Spirit and Matter; Theory and Action; Religion and Secularism; Social work and Business Enterprise.