I am a historian of modern empire, focused on the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region.  I wrote Feasting on History: Ethiopia and the Orientalists (2025) and Guardians of the Tradition: Historians and Historical Writing in Ethiopia and Eritrea (2015), and I co-authored The Many Lives of Täsfa Ṣeyon: An Ethiopian Intellectual in Early Modern Rome (2024), together with Matteo Salvadore and Deresse Ayenachew Woldetsadik. My current research examines the relationship between experts, counterinsurgency, and the international system, specifically focusing on colonial violence in Ethiopia.  More generally, I am interested in microhistory, historical theory, and the intersecting histories of orientalism, anthropology, and area studies.

I am a contributing editor for the journal Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, and previously served as the managing editor of the journal Northeast African Studies.  Here at John Jay, I am an advisor for the International Criminal Justice Major and the Middle East Studies Minor, so come see me about your courses, internship ideas, and post-graduation plans.  My office hours change each semester, but you can always find them listed on the bulletin board in the History Department lobby.