I am a sociologist interested in new and fast-changing transnational markets and economic sectors. I investigate how consumption, production, finance, morality, religion, economic logics, corporate organization, and conceptions of the body are evolving in these markets and sectors. While my research focuses mostly on the late 20^th and 21^st centuries, I situate it in the longue durée of historical capitalism.

I am endlessly curious about how we make capitalism, and how capitalism makes us: into beings moral and immoral, pious and impious, “religious” and “secular,” “rational” and “irrational,” rich and poor, agentic and exploited, nationalist and cosmopolitan, feminine and masculine, sub-human and supra-human.

My first book, The Paradox of Islamic Finance: How Shariah Scholars Reconcile Religion and Capitalism, (forthcoming from Princeton University Press in 2024), draws on over 280 interviews largely in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and Oman. It explores how Islamic jurists have helped the Islamic-finance industry grow from one small bank in Dubai in 1975 into a multi-trillion-dollar industry today: one that offers products ranging from Islamic savings accounts to complex Islamic derivatives. Tracing the interplay of petrodollars, the global Islamic revival, and financialization, the book argues provocatively that Islamic law can be spectacularly compatible with modern markets when auspicious conditions obtain.

My second book project is tentatively entitled Selling Points: How Frequent-Flyer Miles, Starbucks Rewards, and Other Loyalty Currencies Are Transforming the Global Economy. It delves into the fast-growing world of points-based loyalty rewards programs, including not only programs at airlines and chain coffeehouses but also hotel and rental-car rewards, credit-card points, umbrella points programs like Japan's Rakuten Super Points, casino rewards, and others. While most of us think of loyalty programs as doing little more than offering customers freebies to stay loyal, I argue that they are fundamentally changing the way corporations around the world relate to their customers, exercise power over other corporations, and weather crises.

My third project, which I am carrying out in parallel with the second, explores how "halalization" occurs in the 21st century. In other words, how do new goods, services, and industries come to be governed by detailed rules of religious law? And what happens when they do? I focus especially on emerging halal sectors such as halal cosmetics, halal logistics and supply-chain management, halal vaccines and biotech, modest fashion, shariah hospitals, and shariah housing developments. Drawing on interviews and ethnographic research in Brazil, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States, this project again explores the fast-changing frontier of religion and capitalism.

ACADEMIC INTERESTS: Social theory, economic sociology, sociology of religion, political economy, comparative-historical sociology, world-systems theory, cultural sociology, globalization

• 230.101 Introduction to Sociology
• 230.147 Introduction to Islam since 1800
• 230.367 Islamic Finance
• 230.381 Sociology of the Middle East and North Africa
• 230.445 Sociology of Religion
• 230.609 Dissertation Seminar
• 230.635 PGSC Research Seminar
• 230.649 Qualitative Research Methods: Domestic and International Fieldwork

2020. "Halalization: Religious product certification in secular markets." Sociological Theory 38(4):334–361.
- Winner, 2021 ASA Consumers and Consumption Section Distinguished Scholarly Publication Award
- Honorable Mention, 2021 ASA Economic Sociology Section Granovetter Award for Best Paper

2020. “Sharīʿah-compliant or sharīʿah-based? The changing ethical discourse of Islamic finance.” Arab Law Quarterly 34: 1–24.

2019. “How religio-economic projects succeed and fail: the field dynamics of Islamic finance in the Arab Gulf states and Pakistan, 1975–2018.” Socio-Economic Review 17(1): 167–193.

2018. “Shariah with British characteristics” (review essay). European Journal of Sociology 59(3): 408–416.

2017. ​"Accounts Dialogue: Interview with Ryan Calder” (Kasey Zapatka, interviewer). Accounts 16(2):3–8.

2016. ​"God’s technicians: Religious jurists and the usury ban in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam." European Journal of Sociology 57(2): 207-257.

2015. “Architecture of Markets.” In Robert A. Scott and Stephen M. Kosslyn (eds.), Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage. With Neil Fligstein.

2010. “Efforts to replicate short-selling in Islamic finance: Malaysian innovation in comparative perspective.” In Angelo Venardos (ed.), Current Issues in Islamic Banking and Finance: Resilience and Stability in the Present System. London: Worldwide Scientific.

2007. “Political Sociology.” In The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, edited by George Ritzer. Oxford: Blackwell. With John Lie.

“Islamic finance in a fintech future.” Ear to Asia podcast, University of Melbourne. With Hassan Jivraj and interviewer Ali Moore. April 21, 2022.

“Libya’s cautious optimism.” Contexts. Spring 2013.

“An Islamist, a liberal, and a former regime loyalist walk into a cafe…” Foreign Policy. October 21, 2011.

“Remembering Anton Hammerl and his work in Libya.” The Atlantic. May 20, 2011.

“The improvised state: Who’s actually running things in free Libya?” Foreign Policy. April 20, 2011.

“Life lessons: How are children in Benghazi coping with war?” Foreign Policy. April 15, 2011.

“The sounds of the revolution.” Foreign Policy. April 11, 2011.

“Can Libya’s rebels go pro?” Foreign Policy. April 8, 2011.

“Benghazi diary: Three weeks in the revolutionary heartland of eastern Libya.” Foreign Policy. April 7, 2011.

“Why Libya’s rebels are stalled.” The Atlantic. April 7, 2011.

“The accordion war: Libya’s ever-moving front.” The Atlantic. April 5, 2011.

EDUCATION
Ph.D. Sociology, University of California, Berkeley (2014)
M.A. Sociology, University of California, Berkeley (2008)
A.B. Inner Asian and Altaic Studies, Harvard University (2001), magna cum laude with highest honors in concentration

PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
2014– Assistant Professor of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University
2023– Director, Program in Islamic Studies, Johns Hopkins University

PUBLICATIONS
Book
Calder, Ryan. 2024. The Paradox of Islamic Finance: How Shariah Scholars Reconcile Religion and Capitalism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Journal Articles
Calder, Ryan. 2020. “Halalization: Religious product certification in secular markets.” Sociological Theory 38(4): 334–361.
• Winner, 2021 ASA Consumers and Consumption Section Distinguished Scholarly Publication Award
• Honorable Mention, 2021 ASA Economic Sociology Section Granovetter Award for Best Paper

Calder, Ryan. 2020. “Sharīʿah-compliant or sharīʿah-based? The changing ethical discourse of
Islamic finance.” Arab Law Quarterly 34: 1–24.

Calder, Ryan. 2019. “How religio-economic projects succeed and fail: the field dynamics of Islamic finance in the Arab Gulf states and Pakistan, 1975–2018.” Socio-Economic Review 17(1): 167–193.

Calder, Ryan. 2018. “Shariah with British characteristics” (review essay). European Journal of
Sociology 59(3): 408–416.

Calder, Ryan. 2016. “God’s technicians: Religious jurists and the usury ban in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.” European Journal of Sociology 57(2): 207-257.

Book Chapters
Calder, Ryan. Forthcoming. “Ethical debates in Islamic finance.” In The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Ethics, edited by Mustafa Shah. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Calder, Ryan. 2022. “Before the boom: Oil wealth, shariah scholars, and the birth of the Islamic
finance industry.” In The Handbook of Sociology and the Middle East, edited by Fatma Müge Göçek and Gamze Evcimen. London: I.B. Tauris.

Fligstein, Neil and Ryan Calder. 2015. “Architecture of markets.” In Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences, edited by Robert A. Scott and Stephen M. Kosslyn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Calder, Ryan. 2010. “Efforts to replicate short-selling in Islamic finance: Malaysian innovation in comparative perspective.” In Current Issues in Islamic Banking and Finance: Resilience and Stability in the Present System, edited by Angelo Venardos. London: Worldwide Scientific.

Book Reviews
Calder, Ryan and John Lie. 2009. Review of Emergent Economies, Divergent Paths: Economic
Organization and International Trade in South Korea and Taiwan by Robert C. Feenstra and Gary G. Hamilton (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006). American Journal of Sociology 115(2): 693–695.

Calder, Ryan and John Lie. 2006. Review of The Terror of Neoliberalism: Cultural Politics and the Promise of Democracy by Henry Giroux (Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2004). Contemporary Sociology 35(4):400–402.

Calder, Ryan and John Lie. 2006. Review of Globalization and the Future of the Welfare State, edited by Miguel Glatzer and Dietrich Rueschemeyer (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005). American Journal of Sociology 112(1):324–326.

Encyclopedia Entries
Calder, Ryan and John Lie. 2007. “Political sociology.” In Blackwell encyclopedia of sociology, edited by George Ritzer. Oxford: Blackwell.

Magazine Articles
Calder, Ryan. 2017. “Accounts Dialogue: Interview with Ryan Calder” (Kasey Zapatka, interviewer). Accounts 16(2):3–8.

Calder, Ryan. 2013. “Libya’s cautious optimism.” Contexts 12(2):18–20.

Calder, Ryan. 2011. “An Islamist, a liberal, and a former regime loyalist walk into a café…” Foreign Policy (online edition), October 21.

Calder, Ryan. 2011. “Remembering Anton Hammerl and his work in Libya.” The Atlantic (online edition), May 20.

Calder, Ryan. 2011. “The improvised state: Who’s actually running things in free Libya?” Foreign Policy (online edition). April 20.

Calder, Ryan. 2011. “Life lessons: How are children in Benghazi coping with war?” Foreign Policy (online edition). April 15.

Calder, Ryan. 2011. “The sounds of the revolution.” Foreign Policy (online edition). April 11.

Calder, Ryan. 2011. “Can Libya’s rebels go pro?” Foreign Policy (online edition). April 8.

Calder, Ryan. 2011. “Benghazi diary: Three weeks in the revolutionary heartland of eastern Libya.” Foreign Policy (online edition). April 7.

Calder, Ryan. 2011. “Why Libya’s rebels are stalled.” The Atlantic (online edition), April 7.

Calder, Ryan. 2011.“The accordion war: Libya’s ever-moving front.” The Atlantic (online edition), April 5.

MEDIA APPEARANCES
Calder, Ryan. 2023. “A deep dive into the history and practice of Islamic finance.” Majlis and Markets podcast. Available online at https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/majlis-andmarkets/
id1718537162.

Calder, Ryan. 2022. “Islamic finance in a fintech future.” Ear to Asia podcast produced by Asia
Institute, University of Melbourne. With host Ali Moore and co-interviewee Hassan Jivraj. Available online at https://podcasts.apple.com/co/podcast/islamic-finance-in-afintech-future/id1160004765?i=1000558305793.

WORK IN PROGRESS
Calder, Ryan. DebtMiles: Points, Plastic, and the Price of Paradise (book manuscript)

Calder, Ryan. “Loyalty programs and the financialization of everyday consumption” (academic paper)

Calder, Ryan. “Halal panopticon: Technosurveillance, ritual compliance, and worker discipline in Brazilian agribusiness” (academic paper)

Calder, Ryan. “Halal biotech, shariah housing, and shariah hospitals: The comparative political economy of halalization.” (academic paper)

Calder, Ryan, Chris Hess, Ian Kennedy, and Mahesh Somashekhar (four equal co-authors). “The moral organization of markets under fascism and neo-fascism.” (academic paper)

Haeri, Niloofar and Ryan Calder (authorship order TBD). “Why do we use ‘lived,’ ‘vernacular,’ and ‘popular’ to describe religion?” (academic paper)

GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS
2020–21: Catalyst Award, Johns Hopkins University. “The halal boom: The expanding religious regulation of 21st-century markets” ($39,852).

2019–20: Visiting Fellow, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

2016–17: Practical Ethics grant, Johns Hopkins University. “Can God stop the next financial crisis? Prospects for a consequentialist ethics of Islamic financial engineering” ($37,369).

2010–11: Al-Falah Research Fellowship, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of California, Berkeley

2009–10: Center for British Studies Research Grant, University of California Berkeley

2009–10: Al-Falah Research Fellowship, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of California, Berkeley

2008: Critical Language Studies Fellowship, United States Department of State, Arabic

2005–09: Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, United States Department of Education

2005: Foreign Language and Area Studies Summer Fellowship, United States Department of Education, Arabic

2004–09: Berkeley Fellowship for Graduate Study

PRESENTATIONS

2025
“DebtMiles: What happens when airlines become central banks?” Tenth International Conference on Ethnography and Qualitative Research, Trento, Italy. 12 July 2025. (forthcoming)

“The paradox of Islamic finance.” Middle East Studies Program, University of Wisconsin–Madison. 10 April 2025. (invited; forthcoming)

“The paradox of Islamic finance: How shariah scholars reconcile religion and capitalism.” Department of Sociology, Autonomous University of Barcelona. 13 March 2025. (invited; forthcoming)

“The paradox of Islamic finance: How shariah scholars reconcile religion and capitalism.” Explore the Middle East: Dynamics, Challenges, and Perspectives (conference). Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Virginia. 7–9 February 2025. (forthcoming)

2024
Member, expert panel on “Money in Islamic Thought.” Counter Currency Lab, University of Victoria, Canada. 11 December 2024. (invited; virtual)

“Behind the scenes in Congress: The politics of the Credit Card Competition Act.” Co-Brand and Travel Rewards Conference 2024. Wilmington, Delaware, 6 November 2024. (invited)
“Breaking bovine barriers: State, capital, and religious difference in halal beef exports from Brazil and India.” Annual Meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion. Montreal, 11 August 2024. (Also convened panel: “Religion in Business and Entrepreneurship.”)

“How Brazil became a halal powerhouse: The ethnic and religious underpinnings of South–South trade.” Annual Meeting of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics. Limerick, Ireland, 28 June 2024.

“123Milhas: The boom and bust of Brazil’s biggest home-grown OTA [online travel agency].” Ai Connects Mega Event 2024. Calgary, Alberta, 19 June 2024. (invited)

“Frequent-flyer miles and layered financialization in the United States and Brazil.” Distinguished Visitor, Haverford College, 29 April 2024. (invited)

2023
“Clash of what? Postcolonial responses to the Huntington thesis.” Islam and the West: Barriers and Bridges (conference). Iqbal International Institute for Research and Dialogue, International Islamic University Islamabad. 13 December 2023.
(invited but conference postponed)

Discussant for expert panel “Added value of halal products for consumers.” Global Halal Brazil Business Forum (organized by Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce). São Paulo, 23 October 2023. (invited)

“Selling points: How loyalty programs financialize consumption.” American Sociological Association Annual Meeting. Philadelphia, 18 August 2023.

“Loyalty economies: A new nexus between consumption and financialization.” Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics Annual Conference. Rio de Janeiro, 22 July 2023.

Author-meets-critics panelist for An Economic Sociology of Development by Andrew Schrank. Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics Annual Conference. Rio de Janeiro, 21 July 2023.

2022
“How to give a killer job talk.” Professional-development presentation to graduate students, Consumers and Consumption Section, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting. Los Angeles, 7 August 2022.

2021
“Halalization: A love affair between contemporary markets and contemporary Islamic law.” University of Illinois, 1 November 2021. (invited)

2020
“Dīn, dinars, and dollar hegemony: Islamic gold projects at the twilight of the long twentieth century.” Political Economy of the World System Annual Meeting. 23 October 2020.

“When states foster religiously regulated markets: The success of Islamic finance in Malaysia, 1983–2019.” SSRC New Paradigms Grant Workshop on Chinese Diasporas and Transnational Public Spheres in the Long Twentieth Century. 27 March 2020 (postponed due to COVID-19).

“The halal boom: Market-driven secularization.” Boston College, 19 March 2020. (invited but cancelled due to COVID-19)

2019
“Why did the present model of Islamic finance emerge in the Arab Gulf region in the 1970s?” University of California, Los Angeles, 5 December 2019. (invited)

“Dīn, dinars, and dollar hegemony: Islamic gold projects at the twilight of the long twentieth century.” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion Annual Meeting, panel on Religious Differences among Followers of Islam. 26 October 2019. St. Louis, MO.

Convened panel “Identity and participation among Muslims beyond the United States.” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion Annual Meeting. 25 October 2019. St. Louis, MO.

“The halal boom: Market-driven desecularization.” American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, panel on Public Religions in Comparative-Historical Perspective. 11 August 2019.

2017
“The halal revolution: Islamic capitalism in secular markets.” Social Science and History Association Annual Meeting, panel on Religion, Ethics, and Sexuality. Montreal, QC.

“Wired cosmopolitans: The 2011 Arab Spring’s ambassador caste.” Social Science and History Association Annual Meeting, panel on Contentious Views: Representation, Framing, and the Media in State-Society Relations. Montreal, QC.

Chaired and moderated panel “Race, discrimination and contemporary criminal justice.” Social Science and History Association Annual Meeting. Montreal, QC.

“The halal revolution: Islamic capitalism in secular markets.” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion Annual Meeting, panel on Religion and Capitalism. Washington, DC.

Organized and moderated panel “Religion and Capitalism.” Annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Washington, DC.

“Bureaucratic-rational capitalism and the bracketing of social welfare in Islamic finance.” Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics Annual Meeting, panel on Explorations in Islamic Moral Economy. Lyon, France.

“State shariah or market shariah? Islamic dirigisme versus neoliberal piety in Pakistani and Iranian banking, 1979–2017”. Invited talk at conference “Pakistan at 70: The Long View.” Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore, Pakistan.

2016
“How do Islamic financial ethics evolve? The politics of tawarruq in Oman, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia.” Invited talk at Faysal Bank, Karachi, Pakistan.

“Why is there no religious finance except Islamic finance? Religious interest bans in comparative-historical perspective.” Invited talk at Meezan Bank, Karachi, Pakistan.

“Why is there no religious finance except Islamic finance? Religious interest bans in comparative-historical perspective.” Invited talk at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore, Pakistan.

“How do Islamic financial ethics evolve? The politics of tawarruq in Oman, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia.” Invited talk at the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, Pakistan.

“The rock stars of Islamic finance: Shariah scholars as agents of formal rationalization.” Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics Annual Meeting, panel on Financial Elites in the Global South. Berkeley, CA.

Moderated panel “Crossing borders: The mechanisms of capital expansion.” Southern Capitalisms conference at Johns Hopkins University. Baltimore, MD.

“Confronting Islamophobia: A Discussion of Islamophobia in America.” Invited panelist at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.

2015
“The tawarruq debate: The politics of certifying Islamic financial virtue.” Social Science and History Association Annual Meeting, panel on the Politics of Calculation. Baltimore, MD.

“How do we study the halal revolution?” Global Halal: An International Conference on Muslims and the Cultural Politics of the Permissible, panel on Global Halal Markets. East Lansing, MI.

“Islamic finance in Dubai and Kuala Lumpur: State, shariah, and capital in two cities.” Invited talk at colloquium series “Money, Migration, & The Metropolis.” Racism, Immigration, and Citizenship Program, Johns Hopkins University. Baltimore, MD.

2014
“God’s technicians: Shariah scholars and the formal rationalization of Islamic financial ethics, 1975–2014.” Social Science and History Association Annual Meeting, panel on Worlds and World-Making. Toronto.

“What is shariah? The contingent interpretation of Islamic law through history.” Invited talk at Johns Hopkins University Islamic Awareness Week. Baltimore, MD.

“Murabaha: Form, substance, and the battle for the soul of Islamic finance.” American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, panel on Economic Sociology. San Francisco, CA.

“What does it mean to be shariah-based? Separation, authenticity, welfare.” Harvard University Forum on Islamic Finance. Cambridge, MA.

2013
“Why did the Islamic ban on interest survive… while other religious interest bans died? Religious jurists and the survival of the usury ban.” Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics Annual Conference, mini-conference on Islamic finance. Milan.

2012
“Defining an uprising under the international gaze: Opposition media centers and ‘wired cosmopolitans’ in Bahrain and Libya during the 2011 Arab Spring.” Middle East Institute Annual Conference. Singapore.

2011
“Rationalization without secularization: The evolution of modern Islamic finance, 1975-2011.” American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Section on Religion roundtable. Las Vegas, NV.

2010
“Does one size fit all? US attempts to transpose the Anbar awakening from Iraq to Afghanistan” (co-authored with Nicholas Wilson). University of California, Berkeley Colloquium “af-pä-ki-stän: The Violent Birth of an Acronym. Berkeley, CA.

TEACHING AND ADVISING
Graduate courses taught
Fieldwork (AS 230.654: Fall 2023)
Dissertation Seminar (AS 230.609: Fall 2017)
PGSC Research Seminar (AS 230.635: Fall 2014)
Qualitative Research Methods: Domestic and International Fieldwork (AS 230.649: Spring 2018,
Spring 2015; co-taught with Katrina Bell McDonald)
Sociology of Religion (AS 230.445: Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2017)

Undergraduate courses taught
Introduction to Sociology (AS 230.101: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2020, Fall 2019; co-taught in Fall 2018 with Emily Agree)
Qualitative Research Practicum (AS 230.323: Spring 2025 & Spring 2023)
Islamic Finance (AS 230.367: Spring 2022, Spring 2020, Spring 2016, Fall 2014)
Introduction to Islam since 1800 (AS 230.147: Spring 2018, Spring 2016, Spring 2015)
Sociology of the Middle East and North Africa (AS 230.381: Fall 2015)
Undergraduate Thesis Advising (Senior Honors Thesis AS 230.500 / Independent Research AS
230.506) (Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2015, Fall 2014)
Independent Study in Islamic Studies (AS 194.506) (Spring 2024; Summer 2019)
Research Assistantship (undergraduate) (AS 230.501) (Spring 2025; Fall 2024)

Doctoral dissertations (committee member) (completed)
2024
Zhicao Fang, Sociology
Bringing the Military Back In: Military Academies in Latecomer States
2022
Shirley Lung, Sociology
Hyphenated Identities: Taiwanese Churches and Transnational Identity
Formation
2021
Alvin Camba, Sociology
The Strong Leader Trap: The Unintended Consequences of China’s Global Investment Strategy
2020
Joseph Becker, Political Science
Institutions of Animosity: A New Lens for Explaining the U.S.-Iranian Relationship and the Roots of Intractable Conflict
2019
Daniel Thompson, Sociology
Employment, Wage Growth, and Inequality in Rich Democracies in the Post-Golden-Age Era
2016
Joseph Haley, English
Indian Ocean Literature in the Shade of Bandung
2016
Brian Tilley, Anthropology
Ethics of Activity: South Asian Shia Working Life in Dubai

Doctoral dissertations (committee member) (in progress)
Manasi Karthik, Sociology (chair)

GBO examinations and Trial Research Papers (committee member)
2021
Manasi Karthik, Sociology
2018
Alvin Camba, Sociology
Valentina Dallona, Sociology
Zhicao Fang, Sociology
Shirley Lung, Sociology
2017
Mitra Ebrahimi, Geography

Undergraduate theses
2017 Roshni Ahmed
2017 Jane Morris
2015 Basmah Nada

Independent studies
2024 Mia Venezia Layla Yousef
2019 Layla Yousef

Supervised research assistantship (for credit)
2024–25 Akshat Sinha

Undergraduate Woodrow Wilson projects
2016 Putt Rodchareon

Awards for Teaching and Mentoring
Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentoring Award, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University (AY 2019–2020)

Gold Cup Teaching Award, Johns Hopkins Student Government Association (AY 2015–2016)

Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award (Finalist), Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University (AY 2015–2016)

SERVICE AT HOME INSTITUTION
To JHU Department of Sociology
2020–present Speakers Committee, JHU Department of Sociology

2024–present Lead organizer (volunteer), JHU Sociology Graduate Writing Group (9 PhD students)

2023–2024 Member, Growth Hiring Committee 1 (2023–24 job applicants), JHU Department of Sociology

2024 Supporting Non-Member Application Reviewer, Growth Hiring Committee 2 (2024–25 job applicants), JHU Department of Sociology Reviewed fewer applications than full members of the committee

2024 Organized professionalization workshop “Articles, Talks, and Networking” featuring Alvin Camba (JHU ’21)

2023 Helped organize celebration for recently retired and promoted faculty, JHU Department of Sociology

2022 Organized and led professionalization workshop “How to Give a Compelling Job Talk,” JHU Department of Sociology

2018–19 Graduate Admissions Committee, JHU Department of Sociology

2015–17 Graduate Admissions Committee, JHU Department of Sociology

2014–15 Undergraduate Committee, JHU Department of Sociology

To JHU Program in Islamic Studies
2023–present Director, JHU Program in Islamic Studies

2021–present Director of Undergraduate Studies, JHU Program in Islamic Studies & 2015–2020

2015–present Application reviewer, JHU Islamic Studies Summer Research Grant

2023–present Lead organizer, JHU Islamic Studies Colloquium

2023–present Launched JHU Islamic Studies Graduate Luncheon Seminar series

2024 Organized JHU Muslim Association–JHU Islamic Studies Town Hall

2023 Helped organize Panel Discussion on Gaza (hosted by JHU Islamic Studies and JHU Anthropology)

2022 Interim Chair, JHU Program in Islamic Studies (Spring semester)

2022 Organized JHU Muslim Association–JHU Islamic Studies joint iftar (Ramadan dinner)

2021 Organized “Afghanistan Teach-In: Understanding Current Events,” JHU Program in Islamic Studies

2016 Organized conference Morris W. Offit Symposium on Muslims, Jews, and Christians (Baltimore, MD) (200+ attendees)

2015–2016 Interim Director, JHU Program in Islamic Studies

2015–2016 Lead author, proposal for new minor in Islamic Studies (successfully established)

To JHU Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
2024–present Scholar-Teacher Award (STAR) Committee (formerly the Dean’s Teaching Fellowship Committee), JHU Krieger School of Arts and Sciences

2024–present Co-lead organizer, Working Group on Religious Studies, JHU Krieger School of Arts and Sciences

2022–2024 Curriculum Committee, JHU Krieger School of Arts and Sciences

2022–2024 Hopkins in DC Committee, JHU Krieger School of Arts and Sciences

2021 Judge, Excellence in Teaching Awards Committee, JHU Krieger School of Arts and Sciences (graduate and undergraduate)

2017 Mock interviewer, JHU Undergraduate Fellowships (Gates Cambridge applicants)

2015 Application reviewer, Dean’s Undergraduate Research Awards (DURA), JHU Krieger School of Arts and Sciences

To Johns Hopkins University and JHU organizations not listed above
2024–present Affiliate / Publicity, Center on Global Poverty, Johns Hopkins University

2023–present Middle East Educational Programming Advisory Committee, Johns Hopkins University

2023–present Faculty Advisor, Ahlul Bayt Students’ Association, Johns Hopkins University

2023 Discussant, Political Economy Graduate Symposium, Center for Economy and Society, Johns Hopkins University

2022 Moderator, Richard Macksey National Undergraduate Humanities Research Symposium, Johns Hopkins University

SERVICE BEYOND HOME INSTITUTION
2020– Member, Editorial Board, Sociology of Religion

2024– Member, Professional Development Committee, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

2024 Roundtable Organizer, ASA Consumers and Consumption section

2023–24 Program Committee, ASA Consumers and Consumption section

2023 Application Reviewer for Scholar Rescue Fund, Institute of International Education(resettles academics facing threats in their home countries)

2022–23 Chair, Student Travel Award Committee, ASA Religion section

2022–23 Nominations Committee, ASA Consumers and Consumption section

2022 “How to Give a Compelling Job Talk” (workshop leader), ASA Annual Meeting, ASA Consumers and Consumption section

2022 Faculty Mentor, Graduate Student Mentorship Program, ASA Economic Sociology section

2021–22 Granovetter Distinguished Scholarly Publication Award Committee, ASA Economic Sociology section

2021–22 Student Paper Award Committee, ASA Consumers and Consumption section

2020–21 Student Paper Award Committee, ASA Sociology of Religion section

2014–15 Roundtable organizer, section on Economic Sociology, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL.

Article reviewer for: Arab Law Quarterly, Asian Perspective, Current Anthropology, International Journal of Comparative Sociology, Religion, Review of International Political Economy, Social Problems, Socio-Economic Review, Sociology of Religion

Manuscript reviewer for: Palgrave Macmillan

NON-ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
2011–13: Lead social scientist and quantitative methodologist, SIC Corporation Designed survey in Libya (N=1,500) using WHO-EPI method and ArcGIS
2009–11: Contract media translator (Arabic to English)
2001–04: Business analyst / Senior business analyst, McKinsey & Company (Boston / Dubai)
2000: Summer Associate, Novantas Consulting (New York)
2000: Librarian (temp work), Putnam Investments (Boston)

LANGUAGES
Arabic (speaking and reading proficiency)
French (speaking and reading proficiency)
Japanese (native speaker, elementary readi