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I am a scholar of pre-modern Persian Literature at the University of British Columbia.

My dissertation, entitled “Strong Warriors, Liminal Lovers, and Beardless Men: Masculinities and Embodiment in Pre-modern Persian Literature,” examines how pre-modern Persianate poets thought of the interplay between gender, corporeality and the self in their literary oeuvres. I contrast different constructions of masculinities in six long narrative poems (mathnavis) written between the eleventh and the seventeenth century. In my study, I apply perspectives from masculinity studies, monster studies, sexuality studies, and the history of emotions to Persian literary texts to bring Persianate literature into conversation with the Global Medieval/Early Globality.

My other research interests include narratology, travelling tales, and the reception of Middle Eastern literature in Europe, such as the 12th century Sindbād-nāma and its adaptation as The Seven Wise Masters (of Rome) in various European languages.