I am a German specialist in MIDDLE EASTERN HISTORY, CULTURE and POLITICS focusing on the intellectual encounter of East and West, on the perception of Europe and the Greek classics in the modern Middle East, the origins of nationalism and cultural revivalism in the Eastern Mediterranean, and contemporary discourses of enlightenment.
I studied ORIENTAL PHILOLOGY (Arabic, Persian and other languages), MODERN GREEK and BYZANTINE STUDIES, as well as POLITICAL SCIENCE (political philosophy) before I obtained my M.A. in Oriental Philology.
After spending a great deal of time in the Middle East, I wrote my doctoral thesis on “Modernism and the Idea of Europe in the Eastern Mediteranean.” Currently I am working on several projects dealing with East-West encounters.
My new book deals with HUMANISM in the MODERN ARAB WORLD: How Arab thinkers in the modern era developed ideas of enlightenment and a new perception of Europe and the Greek antiquity.
