EDUCATION:

• Ph.D.(1987) McGill University, Institute of Islamic Studies
• M.A. (1980) McGill University, Institute of Islamic Studies
• B.A. (1976) University of British Columbia, English Literature

CURRENT POSITIONS:

• Associate Professor, University of Toronto, Dept. of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations
• Research Associate, McGill University, Institute of Islamic Studies 
• Cross appointed at the Centre for religious Studies at UofT 
• Cross appointed at the Centre for Jewish Studies UofT

PREVIOUS POSITIONS:

• Faculty Lecturer, McGill University, Institute of Islamic Studies (1995-1998)
• Assistant Professor, Islamic Studies, University of Toronto, Department of Middle East and Islamic Studies (1988-1994)

AREA OF SPECIALIZATION:

Mystical Quranic Exegesis, Islamic Thought, Shi’ism, Sufism

TEACHING (General Subject Areas):

• Islamic Religion
• Islamic Thought
• Shi'i Islam
• Modern Developments in Islam Quranic Commentary
Arabic
• Islamic Mystical Tradition Islamic History

TEACHING:

Courses Graduate (current)

• Islamic Religious Thought (NMC2052Y)
• Images of the Prophet Muhammad in Literature (NMC 2053Y)

Undergraduate (current)

• Introduction to Islam (NMC185Y)
• The Qur’an (NMC285Y)
• Shi’i Islam (NMC386HF)
• Islamic Mystical Tradition (NMC387HS)

Graduate (previously taught)

• Islamic Philosophy: Intellect
• Major Themes of Islamic Religious Expression
• Islam: Origin and Early Developments
• Islam: Later Developments A Survey of the Development of Islamic Thought

Undergraduate (previously taught)

• Jesus in the Qur’an

Publications

• please see the publications page.

INVITED LECTURES (most recent):

1. Universite Marc Bloch, Strasbourg, International Colloquium “Dialogue, Culture et Mondialisation” 22-24 November 2005: Shi’ism and Globalization
2. Department of Near Eastern Languages, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana: Akhbari Tafsir Revisited.
3. Sorbonne, 6-8 November 2003: H. Corbin et le Coran [Colloque Henry Corbin (1903 – 1978): Philosophies et Sagesses des Religions du Livre]
4. McGill University, 2-6 June 2003: The Rhetoric of Good and Evil in the Qur'an [Evil in International Affairs, Carnegie Foundation]
5. University of Toronto, 26-27 May, 2002: Nicholas of Cusa and Islam [Yvonne Y. Haddad Plenary and Symposium, CSSR]
6. Isfahan, April 27-29, 2002: The Imaginal World East and West [Cordoba & Isfahan: Two Schools of Islamic Philosophy, Society for the appreciation of Cultural Works, et alii]
7. University of Toronto, 1 February 2002: The Poetics of Duality in the Qur'an [Department for the Study of Religion]
8. University of Copenhagen, 22-24 August, 2001: From the Parochial to the Universal: the Transformation of Shi’ism into the Bahai Faith
9. Bristol University, 5 September 2000: Ahmad Ahsa’i’s Critique of Fayz Kashani on the Problem of God’s Knowledge
10. Concordia University, 27 April, 2000: Islam and the "Lower Senses": The Story of Joseph. Uncommon Senses: An Interdisciplinary Conference on the Senses in Art and Culture April 27-29, Montreal

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS (most recent):

1. San Francisco, 21-24 November 2004: Suluk according to Ahmad Ahsa’i and Kazim Rashti [Middle East Studies Association]
2. San Diego, 22-24 March 2004: A ‘New’ Book by Rajab Bursi [American Oriental Society] Ravenna, 6-11 October 2003: Philosophy and Fundamentalism [Fifth European Conference of Iranian Studies]
3. Bamberg, 3-6 July 2003: Tafsir, Qajar and Safavid [Fourth Safavid Round Table]
4. Concordia University: 27 April, 2000: Islam and the "Lower Senses": The Story of Joseph. Uncommon Senses: An Interdisciplinary Conference on the Senses in Art and Culture April 27-29, Montreal
5. Edinburgh University, August 19, 1998: A 'New Testament' for the Safavids: 17th Century Iranian Quran Commentary Third International Round Table on Safavid Persia, 19-22 August 1998 The Edinburgh Institute for the Advanced Study of Islam and the Middle East, Edinburgh

UNIVERSITY & PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:

• Full Member, School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto, (current)
• Visiting Fellow, Australian National University, Canberra, Autumn, 1998.
• Graduate Studies Council, McGill University, 1995-96
• Faculty of Graduate Studies, McGill University, 1995-1998
• Associate Member, School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto (1991-1994)
• Scholarship Committee, Inst. Islamic Studies, McGill (1995-1998)
• Secretary/Treasurer, Oriental Club of Toronto, University of Toronto (1992-1994)
• Departmental liaison for the Centre for Computing in the Humanities, University of Toronto (1988-94)

SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATIONS:

• American Oriental Society
• British Institute of Persian Studies
• Canadian Society for the Study of Religion
• Middle East Studies Association
• Societas Iranologica Europaea