Selected Presentations
"The Virgins of Islamic Paradise: A Global History,"
Wertheim Study Series, New York Public Library. July 2013.
"Are Houris Heavenly Concubines?"
International Congress on Medieval Studies. May 2013 & Middle
East Studies Association 2012.
"New Media and Houris of Islamic
Paradise" Being Muslim in the Age of Facebook, Youtube, and
Twitter: Anthropological Reflections on Media and Religion
Symposium, KU Leuven (Belgium). April 2013.
"Teaching Middle East History after
9/11" Making Meaning of 9/11 – Ten Years After at St. John's
University. September 2011.
"Beauty in the Garden: Wildan, Ghilman,
and Houris," Roads to Paradise: Eschatology and Concepts of the
Hereafter in Islam at University of Göttingen, Germany. May
2009.
"Feminine Rewards: Contrasting Medieval
and Contemporary Interpretations of Women's Lives in Islamic
Paradise," Gender and Power in the Muslim World at Sarah Lawrence
College. March 2009.
" Reinforcing and extending the fear of
hell: Narrative authority and audience reception in Ibn al-Jawzi's
Kitab al-qussas wa-l-mudhakkirin and al-Qadi's Daqa'iq
al-akhbar fi dhikr al-janna wa-l-nar," Middle Eastern Studies
Association's Annual Conference. November 2008.