“Meshal al-Jaser’s Cinematic Vision for Saudi Arabia.” Paper presented to the annual conference of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Montreal, QC, Canada, November 2022.

“A Kingdom of Many Colors: Art, Reform, and Saudi Arabia in the Twenty-First Century.” Paper presented to the Third Tsinghua Area Studies Forum—Developing Countries in the Age of Uncertainties: Risks, Rewards, and Interdependency.” Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, July 2023.

“From Weddings to Wasla: Music, Society, and the New Saudi Dream.” Paper presented to the annual conference of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Denver, CO, December 2022.

“‘We Need To Talk’: Translation and Contemporary Saudi Art.” Paper delivered to Translation Forum 2022, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 2022.

“‘We Ask Allah to ward off every plague,’: Public Health, Ibadism, and the Omani Renaissance.” Paper delivered to Sultan Qaboos & Modern Oman: 1870-2020, Atlanta, GA, August 2022.

“‘Please refrain from driving while on Zoom’”: Safely and Successfully Teaching Middle East Studies Online in the Twenty-First Century.” Paper delivered (via Zoom) to the annual conference of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Washington, DC, December 2021.

“Making Windows Where There Were Once Walls: Calligraphy and Saudi Art in the Twenty-First Century.” Paper presented to the International Symposium on Arabic Calligraphy, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 2021.

“I Love You, Urgently”: Art, the Environment, and Social Change in Saudi Arabia.” Paper presented to the annual conference of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Washington, DC, October 2020.

“Asian Powers and the Gulf Regional Security Complex.” Paper presented to the annual conference of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), New Orleans, LA, November 2019.

“The nature of change in the kingdom and what could lie ahead in Saudi Arabia.” Paper presented to Shell’s KSA Scenario Workshop, The Hague, Netherlands, September 2019.

“How Art and Laughter Brought Change to Saudi Arabia: Academic Keynote Address.” Paper presented to AUK Gulf Studies Symposium: Production and Consumption Systems, Kuwait City, Kuwait, March, 2019.

“The Distant Early Warning System: The Online Sphere and the Contemporary Artistic Movement in Saudi Arabia.” Paper presented to the annual conference of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), San Antonio, TX, November 2018.

“Arabia’s Ambivalent Auteur:  Meshal al-Jaser’s Cinematic Vision for the New Saudi Arabia.” Paper presented to Film and Visual Media in the Gulf Conference, NYU Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE, October 2018.

“Islam and the rise of smoking in Saudi Arabia.” Paper presented to the Oxford Symposium for Religious Studies, Oxford, United Kingdom, August, 2018.

“To Go With the Grain: The Rise of Saudi Arabia’s Modern Artistic Movement.” Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Japan Association for Middle East Studies, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, May 2018.

“The Necessary Evil’: The Toleration of Tobacco in Contemporary Oman.” Paper presented to the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Washington, DC, November, 2017.

“From Madison Avenue to Muscat: Ibadi Responses to the Modern Cigarette Industry.” Paper presented to the 8th Conference on Ibadi Studies, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, May 2017.

“Brought to you by the House of Benson and Hedges in Arabia”: How Big Tobacco Used Modernity and Islam to Conquer Saudi Arabia.” Paper presented to the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Boston, MA, November, 2016.

“When oil is not enough: Sino-Saudi Ties and Vision 2030.” Paper presented to The 5th International Forum on Asia and the Middle East, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China, September 2016.

“How U.S. Tobacco Conquered Saudi Arabia with Modernity and Islam.” Paper presented to International Conference: American Foreign Policy and the Middle East, Maltepe University, Istanbul, Turkey, May 2016.

“‘To think outside the box’: How Saudi Women Use a Conservative Culture to Transform the Kingdom’s Online World.”  Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Japan Association for Middle East Studies, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan, May 2016.

“Women are killing us on instagram: Gender, Social Space, and Saudi Arabia’s Online Community.” Paper presented to the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Asssociation (MESA), Denver, CO, November, 2015.

“Social Media and the rise of C3: How the Boys Behind the Camera Transformed Saudi Society.” Paper presented to Exploring the Gulf Cooperation Council, Conference run by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA, April 2015.

“Seek Knowledge Even If It Takes You To China (Via Washington): America, China, Saudi Arabia in the Twenty-First Century.” Paper presented to China in the Middle East, Conference Jointly Run by Peking University and Indiana University China Office, Beijing, China, March 2015.

“‘No Woman, No Drive:’ Telfaz11, the Saudi Arts Movement and National Identity in the Twenty-First Century.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Washington, DC November 2014.

“The Hobgoblin of Little Minds: Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Sectarianism in the Gulf.” Paper presented to the 2014 Gulf Research Meeting, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, August 2014.

“The cultures and practices of Islam.” Paper presented to Defence Political Islam Seminar, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, July 2014.

“Is History Bunk? Historical Memory, Tradition, and the Politics of the Contemporary Muslim World.” Paper presented to Defence Political Islam Seminar, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, July 2014.

“Building a Creative Kingdom in Arabia: C3, Comedy, and the Future of Saudi Society.” Paper presented to John Voll: A Celebration of Service, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, April 2014.

“Legitimizing Transformation Without Calling It Change: Tajdid, Islah, and Saudi Arabia’s Place in the Contemporary World.” Paper presented to International Conference: Understanding the Trajectories of Contemporary Islam, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata, India, November 2013.

“To Enjoy the Comfort of Opinion Without the Discomfort of Thought: Saudi Arabia, the Arab Spring, and the West.” Paper presented to the 2013 Gulf Research Meeting, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, July 2013.

“Identity, Politics, and the Gulf Region.” Paper presented to the British Embassy in Kuwait’s Seminar on the Gulf Region, Kuwait City, Kuwait, February 2013.

“From Bahrain to Bukit Bintang: The Gulf’s New Strategic Partnership with Malaysia.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Denver, CO, November 2012.

“Re-Orientalizing the Gulf: The Arab Spring and the GCC’s New Strategic Partnership with Southeast Asia.” Paper presented at the “2012 Gulf Studies Conference: An Interdisciplinary Conference on the Gulf region (Arabia, Iran, and Iraq), past and present,” Exeter University Center for Gulf Studies, Exeter, United Kingdom, July 2012.

“We Don’t Know Where the Boys Have Gone To—Social Change in the Gulf in the Twenty-First Century.” Paper presented to the 2012 Gulf Research Meeting, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, July 2012.

“The Early Soviet State and Saudi Arabia.” Paper presented to “Russia’s Orient: An International Conference.” American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, June 2012.

“When the Qur’an was America’s Weapon for Freedom in the Middle East.” Paper presented to Fourth International Conference: “Shifting Borders: America and the Middle East/North Africa.” Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulazz Al-Saud Center for American Studies and Research, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, January 2012.

“Periphery and Center: Southeast Asia’s Unique Role in the Rise of the Modern Muslim World.” Paper presented to the Annual World History Association Conference, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China, July 2011.

“Are the Chinese people of the book? Shaykh Tahir, Southeast Asia and the Rise of the Modern Muslim World.”  Paper presented to the 3rd Mid Year Enrichment Conference for U.S. Scholars and Students in Southeast Asia, Bangkok, Thailand, March 2011.

“The Wali’s Wife: Gender, the Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya, and political authority in the Ottoman Empire during the Nineteenth Century.”  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), San Diego, CA, November 2010.

“‘If You Want A Future Baby, Why Don’t You Get a Past?’ Men, Women, and Twenty-First Century Gulf Society.” Paper presented at the “2010 Exeter Gulf Studies Conference. The 21st-Century Gulf: the Challenge of Identity.” Exeter, United Kingdom, July 2010.

“Airlift for Allah: The United States and the 1952 hajj.” Paper presented at “America and the Middle East: An Interdisciplinary Conference.” The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud Center for American Studies & Research, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, January 2010.

“Shaykh Khalid and the Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya: A Sufi Order and Social Movement in the Nineteenth-Century Ottoman World.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Boston, MA, November 2009.

“The Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya, Legitimacy, and Plague in the Ottoman Empire.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Washington, DC, November 2008.

“Social Movement Theory, Court Records, and Early-Modern Sufism.”  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Montreal, Quebec, Canada, November 2007.

“Thomas Jefferson, Keith Ellison, and African Muslims in Atlantic History.”  Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora, St. Michael, Barbados, October 2007.

“Muslims in the History of the Atlantic Basin.”  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association in Conjunction with the National History Center, Atlanta, GA, January 2007.

“Sheikhs, Shiites, and Satellites: Strategic Interaction Theory and the Arab Gulf States.”  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), San Francisco, CA, November 2004.

“It Would Surely Be the Second: Lebanon, Israel and the Arab-Israeli War of 1967.” Paper presented at “The United States, the Middle East, and the Arab-Israeli War of 1967,” a conference sponsored by the Historian’s Office of the U.S. State Department, Washington, DC, January 2004.

“نظام التعليم العالي في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية” [The post-secondary educational system in the United States of America], (delivered in Arabic), Syrian Educational and Technical Training Exposition, Damascus Fairgrounds, June 29, 2003, under the joint sponsorship of the U.S. Cultural Center in Damascus and the Syrian Ministry of Education.

“From Madison Avenue to Muscat: Ibadi Responses to the Modern Cigarette Industry.” Paper presented to the 8th Conference on Ibadi Studies, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, May 2017.

“Brought to you by the House of Benson and Hedges in Arabia”: How Big Tobacco Used Modernity and Islam to Conquer Saudi Arabia.” Paper presented to the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Asssociation (MESA), Boston, MA, November, 2016.

“When oil is not enough: Sino-Saudi Ties and Vision 2030.” Paper presented to The 5th International Forum on Asia and the Middle East, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China, September 2016.

“How U.S. Tobacco Conquered Saudi Arabia with Modernity and Islam.” Paper presented to International Conference: American Foreign Policy and the Middle East, Maltepe University, Istanbul, Turkey, May 2016.

“‘To think outside the box’: How Saudi Women Use a Conservative Culture to Transform the Kingdom’s Online World.”  Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Japan Association for Middle East Studies, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan, May 2016.

“Women are killing us on instagram: Gender, Social Space, and Saudi Arabia’s Online Community.” Paper presented to the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Asssociation (MESA), Denver, CO, November, 2015.

“Social Media and the rise of C3: How the Boys Behind the Camera Transformed Saudi Society.” Paper presented to Exploring the Gulf Cooperation Council, Conference run by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA, April 2015.

“Seek Knowledge Even If It Takes You To China (Via Washington): America, China, Saudi Arabia in the Twenty-First Century.” Paper presented to China in the Middle East, Conference Jointly Run by Peking University and Indiana University China Office, Beijing, China, March 2015.

“‘No Woman, No Drive:’ Telfaz11, the Saudi Arts Movement and National Identity in the Twenty-First Century.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Washington, DC November 2014.

“The Hobgoblin of Little Minds: Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Sectarianism in the Gulf.” Paper presented to the 2014 Gulf Research Meeting, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, August 2014.

“The cultures and practices of Islam.” Paper presented to Defence Political Islam Seminar, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, July 2014.

“Is History Bunk? Historical Memory, Tradition, and the Politics of the Contemporary Muslim World.” Paper presented to Defence Political Islam Seminar, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, July 2014.

“Building a Creative Kingdom in Arabia: C3, Comedy, and the Future of Saudi Society.” Paper presented to John Voll: A Celebration of Service, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, April 2014.

“Legitimizing Transformation Without Calling It Change: Tajdid, Islah, and Saudi Arabia’s Place in the Contemporary World.” Paper presented to International Conference: Understanding the Trajectories of Contemporary Islam, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata, India, November 2013.

“To Enjoy the Comfort of Opinion Without the Discomfort of Thought: Saudi Arabia, the Arab Spring, and the West.” Paper presented to the 2013 Gulf Research Meeting, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, July 2013.

“Identity, Politics, and the Gulf Region.” Paper presented to the British Embassy in Kuwait’s Seminar on the Gulf Region, Kuwait City, Kuwait, February 2013.

“From Bahrain to Bukit Bintang: The Gulf’s New Strategic Partnership with Malaysia.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Denver, CO, November 2012.

“Re-Orientalizing the Gulf: The Arab Spring and the GCC’s New Strategic Partnership with Southeast Asia.” Paper presented at the “2012 Gulf Studies Conference: An Interdisciplinary Conference on the Gulf region (Arabia, Iran, and Iraq), past and present,” Exeter University Center for Gulf Studies, Exeter, United Kingdom, July 2012.

“We Don’t Know Where the Boys Have Gone To—Social Change in the Gulf in the Twenty-First Century.” Paper presented to the 2012 Gulf Research Meeting, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, July 2012.

“The Early Soviet State and Saudi Arabia.” Paper presented to “Russia’s Orient: An International Conference.” American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, June 2012.

“When the Qur’an was America’s Weapon for Freedom in the Middle East.” Paper presented to Fourth International Conference: “Shifting Borders: America and the Middle East/North Africa.” Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulazz Al-Saud Center for American Studies and Research, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, January 2012.

“Periphery and Center: Southeast Asia’s Unique Role in the Rise of the Modern Muslim World.” Paper presented to the Annual World History Association Conference, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China, July 2011.

“Are the Chinese people of the book? Shaykh Tahir, Southeast Asia and the Rise of the Modern Muslim World.”  Paper presented to the 3rd Mid Year Enrichment Conference for U.S. Scholars and Students in Southeast Asia, Bangkok, Thailand, March 2011.

“The Wali’s Wife: Gender, the Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya, and political authority in the Ottoman Empire during the Nineteenth Century.”  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), San Diego, CA, November 2010.

“‘If You Want A Future Baby, Why Don’t You Get a Past?’ Men, Women, and Twenty-First Century Gulf Society.” Paper presented at the “2010 Exeter Gulf Studies Conference. The 21st-Century Gulf: the Challenge of Identity.” Exeter, United Kingdom, July 2010.

“Airlift for Allah: The United States and the 1952 hajj.” Paper presented at “America and the Middle East: An Interdisciplinary Conference.” The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud Center for American Studies & Research, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, January 2010.

“Shaykh Khalid and the Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya: A Sufi Order and Social Movement in the Nineteenth-Century Ottoman World.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Boston, MA, November 2009.

“The Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya, Legitimacy, and Plague in the Ottoman Empire.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Washington, DC, November 2008.

“Social Movement Theory, Court Records, and Early-Modern Sufism.”  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Montreal, Quebec, Canada, November 2007.

“Thomas Jefferson, Keith Ellison, and African Muslims in Atlantic History.”  Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora, St. Michael, Barbados, October 2007.

“Muslims in the History of the Atlantic Basin.”  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association in Conjunction with the National History Center, Atlanta, GA, January 2007.

“Sheikhs, Shiites, and Satellites: Strategic Interaction Theory and the Arab Gulf States.”  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), San Francisco, CA, November 2004.

“It Would Surely Be the Second: Lebanon, Israel and the Arab-Israeli War of 1967.” Paper presented at “The United States, the Middle East, and the Arab-Israeli War of 1967,” a conference sponsored by the Historian’s Office of the U.S. State Department, Washington, DC, January 2004.

“نظام التعليم العالي في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية” [The post-secondary educational system in the United States of America], (delivered in Arabic), Syrian Educational and Technical Training Exposition, Damascus Fairgrounds, June 29, 2003, under the joint sponsorship of the U.S. Cultural Center in Damascus and the Syrian Ministry of Education.