I grew up in Jerusalem, where I earned BA and MA degrees in Indian Languages and Literatures and Psychology. I completed a Ph.D in Comparative Literature at the University of Michigan in 2006 followed by postdoctoral fellowships at Columbia University and the Asia Research Institute, Singapore. I have a long standing interest in language study, translation, the roles stories play in human lives and comparative literary studies.

Islamic literary cultures in south India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, Javanese and Malay manuscript traditions, history of the book, translation studies, alphabet histories, conversion narratives, comparative literature, travel literature.