Lavanya Vemsani, award winning scholar and professor of History specializing in Indian History and Religions, is Distinguished University Professor in the department of Social Sciences at Shawnee State University, Portsmouth, Ohio. She holds two doctorates in the subjects of Religious Studies from McMaster University (Hamilton, Canada) as well as History from University of Hyderabad (Hyderabad, India), respectively. Dr. Vemsani’s research and teaching interests are varied and multiple. She researches and publishes on subjects of ancient Indian history and religions as well as current history of India. She is the author of Hindu and Jain Mythology of Balarama and a number of articles on early History and Religions of India. Her second book Krishna in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Lord of Many Names is an encyclopedic study on Krishna. She is currently working on two book projects, India: A New History and Ancient Settlement Patterns of South India. She is the editor of International Journal of Dharma and Hindu Studies, and associate editor of Journal of South Asian Religious History.
