About

I’m a student of history, which means that I like poking around in dry textbooks, and a medievalist in training, which means I read about dry old men. I’m interested generally in intellectual history, the history of science, and the history of theology. I have a few convictions. I am not religious and have an ambiguous relationship with faith, but I believe that religion has been a positive force in the world. I believe that reason and faith are reconcilable, and were successfully reconciled by religious thinkers through the medieval period. I believe, based on some cultural developments of the middle ages, that relations between Islam and the rest of the world can be repaired successfully. Finally, I believe that modern science has its roots in medieval philosophy.

I also have an interest in the continued development of the Islamic world. When I was young I saw 9/11 on television, and it impacted massively how I see the world. It took me a long time to grasp what that day meant. I would like to think that in the years since I have come to approach the Middle East from a place of real empathy without sacrificing a more realistic analysis.

As of this time, I can read a little bit of Latin, as well as some Arabic.

I find a great deal of meaning in violence. For that reason, I will sometimes review ultraviolent (and transgressive) media and give an opinion on what kind of meaning it might have.