As a historian with major teaching fields in the history of medicine, and of both the medieval and modern Middle East, and substantial background and research in cultural linkages, I am prepared to teach a variety of courses on the Middle East/North Africa, as well as broader courses of interest including world history surveys, and courses focused on the Mediterranean littoral, the Silk Route, and the Indian Ocean.
My introductory history of medicine course, Plagues and Pandemics, is a comparative U.S./global class that examines social issues such as racism and homophobia, and the ways that health and disease have been used to delineate social lines.
In teaching, I emphasize the notion of history-as-inquiry, encouraging students to think about not only what we know about the past, but how and why we know it. I prefer to use as many primary texts as possible; an exercise that has proven quite popular involves assembling primary document sets to have students work with in class.
I see my role in the classroom as the facilitator of discussion and inquiry rather than as the gatekeeper of definitive answers. Particularly when it comes to teaching the modern Middle East, my goal is to emphasize the multiplicity of perspectives as well as the complexity of issues rather than emphasize the “correctness” of one over another.
Read more about my teaching philosophy.
Courses I have taught:
(links are to syllabi posted on academia.edu)
Fall 2020
Plagues and Pandemics
(Framing document, including reading assignments)
St. Edward’s University, Global Studies (two sections)Spring 2020
World War I: The Colonial Experience
The University of Texas at Austin, History (crosslisted with Asian Studies, and African and African Diaspora Studies)
1. Original syllabus
2. Revised version for COVID-19 closureSpring 2019
The Middle East from Muhammad to the Mongols
St. Edward’s University, HistoryModern Egypt
St. Edward’s University, Cultural FoundationsFall 2018
Terrorism and Extremist Movements
St. Edward’s University, Cultural Foundations (Contemporary Global Issues)Spring 2018
Introduction to the Middle East and North Africa
St. Edward’s University, Global StudiesFall 2017
The Middle East from WWI to the Syrian Civil War
St. Edward’s University, Cultural Foundations (Contemporary Global Issues)Summer 2017
Introduction to the Middle East: Religious, Cultural, Historical Foundations
The University of Texas at Austin, Middle Eastern Studies (crosslisted with History)Spring 2017
The Middle East from WWI to the Syrian Civil War
St. Edward’s University, Cultural Foundations (Contemporary Global Issues)
Survey/Lower Division courses I am prepared to teach:
- History of Islamic Civilizations, 600-1500
- History of Islamic Spain
- History of the Ottoman Empire
- The Indian Ocean World
- Introduction to Islam
- Introduction to the Contemporary Middle East/North Africa
- The Medieval Mediterranean
- Plagues and Pandemics
- The Silk Route
I am also prepared to teach world history surveys focusing on the period from Late Antiquity to the present, especially those that are non-western focused; I am particularly interested in developing thematic world history/global studies surveys around topics such as material culture, trade, art, and food.
Upper Division/Graduate courses I am prepared to teach:
- Comparative Statebuilding: Egypt, Turkey, and Iran
- Public Health and State Power in Egypt
- Environment, Health, and Nationalism in the Middle East, 1800-1930
- Epidemics and Politics during World War I
- Imperialism, Health, and Disease
- The Middle East from WWI to The Arab Spring
- Modern Egypt
- Pandemics and Public Health
- World War I in the Middle East
- World War I: The Colonial Experience
- Terrorism and Extremist Movements
