The Memory of Musaylima and the Origins of Islam

My Master's thesis, in which I deconstruct Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari's account of the Apostasy Wars and Islamic history's most notorious "false prophet," Musaylima. Click here to read.

Advisor: Dr. Robert Dobie, Assistant Professor of Medieval Christian and Islamic philosophy, comparative philosophy, and metaphysics at La Salle University.

CyberChaikhana: Digital Conversations from Central Asia

This book will highlight the 50-60 best posts from the neweurasia weblogging network, as well as the larger Central Asian blogosphere, in 10 country-specific and regionally themed chapters.

Themes include: education and information, minorities, urban planning, revolution and civil society, and more.

Check out the CyberChaikhana weblog for more information.

The Transcendence

Poetry meets the rock-n-roll concept album in this tale of a young poet on a holy war against God Himself. Each of the 25 poems doubles as stand-alone verse and story chapter. With artwork in the manga style by Ben Harvey.

Set to be published in late 2008 by La Salle University Press.

The Qur'ans of Philadelphia

My research article on rare and scarce printed editions covering the period 1600-1910, concerning their psychological and geographical provenance, current statistical information, and place in interpeting Philadelphian history.

Advisors: Mr. John Baky, Director of the La Salle University Connelly Library, and Dr. Margaret McGuinness, Chair of the Department of Religion, La Salle University. Translation assistance provided by Hamza Malik (MA, School of Oriental and African Studies).

Publication to be announced. The original term paper is available in the Connelly Library closed stacks; please refer to the catalogue entry.

Family history

For the next academic year I will be interviewing family members and collecting materials as a personal project to document and preserve my family's past. Hopefully I will even be making the journey to our ancestral village in Romania.