About Me

This website aims to be a source of helpful analysis, scholarly resources, and occasionally some well-seasoned commentary for whoever wishes to read it. All, of course, by and about me (if the url didn't give that away). 

 

Unlike other more popular academic blogs, this website is not intended to provide up-to date commentary on events in the Middle Eastern region, though you'll often find some of it here. Nor it a repository of historical meta-analysis, though it provides a bit of that too. Is it certainly not a forum for griping about the state of the field or the academy in general (God help me...), but it will offer that as well. 

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Beyond my own analysis, I aim to connect with other scholars in my field and beyond to showcase their research and learn from their experiences. Through this, perhaps I can help humanize a profession that is too often parodied (even by our own). 

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About the author:

Tylor Brand is a native Phoenician (the Arizona sort, not the Levantine), and while the place has changed dramatically since he left in 2001, he still holds it and the Arizona high desert close to his heart.

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Tylor moved to Tucson in 2001 for his undergraduate education, where he dabbled in music and sometimes in classwork until his undergrad career drew to a close in 2005. In his pre-academic life he got a taste of construction, factory work, food service, and academic administration. His cumulative experience outside of the university made him appreciate academia for what it is (such as it is). 

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Following three years as an MA student in the University of Arizona's Near Eastern Studies program, Tylor moved to Lebanon to get his Ph.D. at the American University of Beirut. Over six years, ​Lebanon became his home and my regional specialization. While in Beirut, Tylor relished his beautiful surroundings and dear friends and mentors, but after a year of teaching at the AUB in 2015, he followed a new opportunity to the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. There he developed a deep appreciation for the Gulf and its culture, while adding about decade's worth of sun exposure to his already ruined skin. After three years in Sharjah, he accepted a position in the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Studies at Trinity College in Dublin, where he has remained since. 

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The work of an academic is never truly done, but in his "spare" time, Tylor still enjoys hobbies like music, cooking and gardening. He enjoys less the constant stream of DIY repairs required to keep his aging house from crumbling around him, but such is life. When he is not in the classroom or behind a damnable screen, He can often be found walking his little King Charles Cavalier along the beach or playing basketball with his son

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