I am a research fellow at the AbuSulayman Center for Global Islamic Studies and affiliated faculty at the Schar School of Policy & Government at George Mason University. My current research examines the corrosive effects of religious bias on civil society in the United States and maps the civil society efforts working to counter hate crimes and incidents motivated by religious bias.
My commentary on issues related to cultural diplomacy, politics, religion, and international affairs has been carried by Associated Press, Religion News Service, and The Conversation, among other outlets.
From 2022 to 2026, I was a consultant to the Religion & Society Program at The Aspen Institute, where I convened its Dismantling Hate cohort in spring 2023. The cohort explored restorative justice as an alternative to carceral responses to hate crimes and incidents, particularly those motivated by religious bias.
From 2017 to 2020, I advised the British Council on the role of religion in cultural relations and cultural diplomacy, bringing together expertise at the intersection of religion and public policy through its Bridging Voices program. Bridging Voices supported three transatlantic research consortia, examining religion’s role in promoting social justice for forcibly displaced people, sexual diversity and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and the concept of a ‘Muslim Atlantic’. The project e-book showcases the consortia’s work alongside reflections from key stakeholders in the US, UK, and Europe.
My doctoral dissertation was a comparative historical analysis of state–religion relations in Western Europe, focusing on patterns of engagement between the state and Jewish and Muslim communities in the UK, France, and the Netherlands.