Medieval History western Mediterranean history medieval Middle East early medieval Europe medieval religion and society
Current Research
My current research agenda invovles the writing of a book manuscript based on my 2007 dissertation entitled "Sicily and the Medieval Mediterranean: Communication Networks and Inter-Regional Exchange."
I am also completing an article-length study of the water supplies and depictions of water useage in medieval Sicily, based on a recent conference presentation.
“Sicily and Southern Italy” in Encyclopedia of Medieval Pilgrimage (submitted to editor, publication expected Brill, 2009).
2007
Muslims in Norman Sicily: The Evidence of Imam al-Mazari's Fatwas," Mediterranean Studies vol. 16 (2007): 46-66
Presentations and Projects
Conference Presentations
2008. "Travel between Sicily
and Constantinople: Real and Imaginary," Eighteenth Annual
Conference of the Texas Medieval Association, Texas Tech University, Lubbock,
Texas, October 2-5
2008. "Water Supply and Water Use in Medieval Sicily," Session 1213: "Supply and Demand:
Water Use and Agriculture in Medieval Italy,"
International Medieval Congress, University
of Leeds, UK
July 7-10
2008. "Muslims in Christian Sicily: Through the
Eyes of Muslim Visitors," Session 178: "Convivencia in Italy?
Christians, Muslims, and Jews on the Peninsula," 43rd International
Congress on Medieval Studies, Western MichiganUniversity, Kalamazoo, Michigan,
May 8–11
2006. "A Permeable Boundary: Mediterranean Trade
and the Norman Conquest of Sicily,"
Medieval Academy 81st Annual Meeting, Boston, March 30-April 1
2005. "Muslims in Medieval Christian Sicily," 8th
Annual Mediterranean Studies Association Conference, Messina, Sicily,
May 25-28
2003. "The Sicilian Quarter-Dinar and the
Economy of the Western Mediterranean (9th - 11th
centuries)," 38th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan
University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 8-11
Appointments
Duration
Rank
Department / School
College / Office
University / Company
Current
Assistant Professor
Department of History
College of Liberal Arts
The University of Texas at Arlington
Synergistic Activities
University Service
2008-present. Director, Medieval and Early Modern Studies program - a newinterdisciplinary Minor program
2008-09. Committee Member, University of Texas at Arlington, Department of History: Russian Search Committee, Webb Lecture Committee,Curriculum Committee, Grievance Committee
2008. Committee Member, University of Texas at Arlington, Department of History: Wolfskill Award Committee (M.A.)
2007-08. Committee Member, University of Texas at Arlington, Department of History: Webb Lecture Committee, Curriculum Committee, MediaCommittee
The status of minority populations is a hot topic in the modern world, and modern perceptions of this issue often inform our thinking about how minority groups have been treated in the past.This colloquium will provide a forum for discussion and debate about works of historical scholarship concerning Muslims, Jews, heretical Christians, and other minority groups within medieval Europe and at its borders.We will explore and contrast concepts including group identity, toleration, conversion, co-existence, and persecution.Questions that students will be asked to consider include the following: How did certain groups get chosen as minorities or “outsiders” within medieval European society?Is there one paradigm with which we should explain the status and conditions of minority groups in medieval Europe, or should each group or place be considered individually?And, should medieval Christendom be understood as a “persecuting society,” or are there alternative ways to explain the negotiations between majority and minority populations during the Middle Ages?
Download Syllabus (52.5KB. This syllabus was uploaded Monday 24th, August 2009 09:35:11 AM and is subject to change.)
The early centuries of the medieval period saw the breakdown of the structures of the Roman Empire and the rise of new and distinctive cultures in the regions of western Europe and Byzantium.This course will follow the spread of institutional Christianity from Constantine to the early medieval papacy, the rise of the Franks and the foundation of the Holy Roman Empire, and the development of characteristically “medieval” forms of social and political organization, religion, art and architecture.Questions we will consider include those of how to define the “Middle Ages,” the utility of this definition for our understanding of Europe’s history, continuity versus discontinuity between Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, and how medieval European civilization organized itself and related to the societies on its borders.
Download Syllabus (59.5KB. This syllabus was uploaded Monday 24th, August 2009 09:33:40 AM and is subject to change.)
2007. Philip Gleason Prize, Department of History, University
of Notre Dame, for best published article by a graduate student in history.
2005-2006. Pre-doctoral Fellowship, KanebCenter for Teaching and Learning, University
of Notre Dame; Resident at Princeton
University, mentored by
Dr. Molly Greene.
2005. Frederic C. Lane Dissertation Grant, Medieval Academy of America
2004. Graduate Student Summer Research Grant, Institute for
Scholarship in the Liberal Arts, University of Notre Dame
2004. Graduate Assistantship, Department of History, University of Notre Dame
2004. Striving for Excellence in College and University
Teaching Certificate, Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Notre
Dame
2002. Zahm Research Travel Grant, University of Notre
Dame
2002. Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher Award for
Excellence in Teaching, Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning, University of
Notre Dame
1999-2003. University Presidential Fellowship, University of Notre Dame
Professional Service
2008. Moderator, Session 1115: “The Economic and Cultural
Meaning of Waterways,” International Medieval Congress 2008, University of Leeds, UK
July 7-10
2005. Organizer, Vagantes Graduate Conference, University of Notre Dame, March 3-5
2003. Moderator, Session 12: “Christians, Muslims, and
Conversion, Eleventh-Thirteenth Centuries,” 38th International Congress on
Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University,
Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 8-11
Professional Memberships
American Historical Association
Medieval Academy
of America
Mediterranean Studies Association
Middle East Medievalists
Middle East Studies Association of America
Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa
Research Languages
Classical Arabic, Latin, Ancient Greek, French, Italian,
Spanish
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Faculty Profile
Mail Box: 19529, UH, Room No.: 331 
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