Invited Talks and Public Lectures
"In Ibn al-Nafīs's Shadow: Philosophical Verification (Taḥqīq) and the Emergence of non-Galenic/non-Avicennan Medical Theory," History and Philosophy of Medicine Webinars, First Session: "Philosophy & Medicine in the Avicennan Tradition," Iran University of Medical Sciences, June 16, 2022.
(with Dr. Adnan Hyder and Dr. Janan Sarwar) "Muslim Change-Makers in Medicine," International Muslim History Month, World Hijab Day, May 6, 2022.
"Lovesickness (ʿishq) in the Arabic Medical Commentaries (1200–1520)," Center for Medieval Studies, University of Exeter, December 15, 2021.
(with Sarah Qidwai, Salman Hameed, Sajjad Rizvi and Nauman Naqvi) “The Place of Science in Islamic Societies: A Conversation (Islāmī maʿāshire me.n science kā maqam: ek guftagū),” Exeter-Habib Conversations, University of Exeter and Habib University, online, December 13, 2021 (in Urdu).
"Lovesickness (ʿishq) in the Arabic Medical Commentaries (1200–1520)," Early Science and Medicine Seminar, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, December 7, 2021.
“Science-Religion Interactions in the Islamic World: Moving Beyond Simplistic Narratives,” Deep Dive, Science, Innovation & Faith for Human Dignity (SCHIFA), College of Islamic Studies, Hamad bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar, November 3, 2021.
"Knowing the Signs of Disease: Tracking the Evolving Understandings of Plague in Islamic Societies (700–1300)," Inaugural Lecture, al-Qasimi Visiting Professor of Islamic Studies, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, October 6, 2021.
"Reason and Revelation in Islam: Theoretical Frameworks and Lived Realities," (with Asad Q. Ahmed, UC Berkeley), Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Berkeley--Bayan Islamic Graduate School Webinar Series, December 7, 2020 (video).
"What is Islamic Science?" Science Beyond the West, University of Pennsylvania, September 25, 2020.
"Arabic Medical Commentaries and Advancements in Medical Physiology: Verifying the Canon and Overturning it," History of Science Colloquium, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, September 13, 2019.
"Did Humoral Theory Undergo Any Changes in Post-Avicennan Medicine? Examples from the Commentaries of Ibn al-Nafīs (d. 1288) and His Successors in Western Eurasia," History of Science, Technology and Medicine Colloquium, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, February 23, 2018.
"'Pulse is a Kind of Positional Motion': Arabic Medical Commentators Transcending Aristotle and Galen," Colloquium Series, History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, February 8, 2018.
"Generation and Fetal Ensoulment: The Interconnectedness of Arabic Medical, Philosophical and Religious Discourses in the Mamluk Era (1250–1517)," Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, November 13, 2017.
"Medical Commentaries and the Transmission of Knowledge Across Western Eurasia, 1200–1560," Richard E. Geiger Lecture, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, IA, November 2, 2017.
"Transforming Galenic Medicine after Avicenna: Medical Commentaries and the Developments in Pulse and Humoral Theory, 1200–1560," NEH Center for Humanities and Medicine Speaker Series, Ivy Tech Community College, Terre Haute, IN, September 12, 2017.
"The Importance of Engaging with Islamic History,'' Islamic Awareness Week, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, March 13, 2016.
''The Physics of Motion in the Arabic Medical Commentaries on the Canon and its Abridgments, 1200–1520,'' Brown Bag Lecture Series, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, November 9, 2015.
''In Ibn al-Nafīs’s Shadow: Arabic Medical Commentaries during the Mamluk Period, 1260–1516,'' School of Historical Studies Colloquium, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, October 29, 2015.
''Studying the Transmission and Development of Ibn al-Nafīs’s Physiology in the Mamluk-Era Commentaries on the Qānūn and the Mūjaz,'' Islamicists’ Seminar, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, October 28, 2015.
"Did Renaissance Physicians Know the Work of Ibn al-Nafīs? Re-Examining an Old Debate in Light of New Work on the Arabic Medical Commentaries," Department of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton, NJ, March 9, 2015.
"Re-Examining the Science-Religion Dichotomy in Medieval Islamic Societies," The Hampshire College Lecture Series on Science and Religion, Hampshire College, Amherst, MA, February 26, 2015.
"The Movement of Medical Texts and Commentators in Western Eurasia," The Global Middle Ages, Medieval Club of New York, New York, NY, December 5, 2014.
"Arabic Medical Commentaries and the Renaissance Anatomists," Bryn Mawr College, Philadelphia, PA, October 29, 2014.
"Did Muslim Physicians Advance Beyond Greek Medicine,'' American University of Sharjah, U.A.E., February 18, 2014.
"Conceptions of Generation in the Mamluk Period,'" Arab Crossroads Lunchtime Lecture Series, New York University, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., February 3, 2014.
"Challenging the Galenic Theory of Pulse: Ibn al-Nafīs (d. 1288) and his Successors," History and Philosophy of Science Colloquium, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, December 5, 2013.
"Medicine in the Islamic World After 1200 C.E.: Greek Physiology Recycled, or Alternative Physiologies?" Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, November 19, 2013.
"Islam, Medicine and Science," John Cotton Dana Library, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, November 13, 2013.
"Alternative Physiologies to Galen in the Post-Avicennan Islamic World," Medieval Studies Lecture Series, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, October 7, 2013.
"The Concept of Soul and Spirit in Pre-Modern Medicine," Around Indy Reading Group, Zionesville Library, Zionesville, IN, July 13, 2013.
"The Concept of Rūḥ and Nafs in Islamic Medicine," (in Urdu; طبِّ اسلامی میں روح اور نفس کا مقام) Pakistan Association of Dubai, Dubai, U.A.E., May 25, 2013 (Click here for Youtube video; Click here for non-Youtube video).
"Islamic Science and the Modern World," Muslim Journeys to Terre Haute, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN, April 14, 2013.
"'The Source of the Faculties is the Soul': Pre-Modern Islamic Medicine and its Relation to Philosophy and Religion,'' The Soul and the Self in Islamic Thought, 2012 IINN Mind & Body Lectures, The Insight Institute of Neurosurgery & Neuroscience (IINN), Flint, MI, October 20, 2012 (Click here for video).
Conference and Workshop Presentations
"What kind of ‘ilm (science) is medicine? Epistemological Debates within Arabic Medical Commentaries,” History of Science Society: Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, November 17–20, 2022.
"Infertility in the Arabic Medical Commentaries, 1240–1520," Premodern Fertility: Global Perspectives, Exeter, UK, May 24–25, 2022.
"Commentaries and the Emergence of non-Galenic, non-Avicennan Medical Theories," Medicine, Magic and Healing, Exeter, UK, November 29–30, 2021.
(with Monica Green) "Humanizing the Science of Plague: The Rediscovery of a Lost Pandemic in the 13th Century," The American Association for the History of Medicine, 94th Annual Meeting, online, May 12–16, 2021.
"What Kind of ʿilm is Medicine? Reflections of Canon and Epitome Commentators on Avicenna's Definition of Medicine," Theory of Science and the Sciences in the Post-Avicennan Period, online, March 29–30, 2021.
"Arabic Texts of Plague in the 13th Century," History of Infectious Disease in the Islamicate World, Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine, online, March 2, 2021.
"The Theory of Pulse in the Arabic Medical Commentaries," Kairos, Krisis, Rhythmos: Time and Time Awareness in Ancient Medicine, Einstein Center Chronoi, Freie Universität, Berlin, February 18, 2020.
“Empirical Verification in Post-Classical Arabic Medical Commentaries,” Current Trends in the History of Science in Muslim Societies: Debates, Approaches and Stakes, New York University-Abu Dhabi Institute, New York, December 11–12, 2019.
“The Educational Landscape of Post-Classical Physicians: What can be Gleaned from Arabic Commentaries on the Canon of Medicine and Epitome?” Health, Magic and the Stars: Workshop on the History of Islamic Science in Honour of Emilie Savage-Smith, St. Cross College, University of Oxford, Oxford, March 29, 2019. (Presentation)
“The Educational Landscape of Post-Classical Physicians: What can be Gleaned from Arabic Commentaries on the Canon of Medicine and Epitome?” Science Teaching in Pre-modern Societies: A Workshop, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, May 24–26, 2018.
"Authority and Expertise in Arabic Medical Commentaries," 53rd Medieval Congress, Kalamazoo, MI, May 10–13, 2018.
“‘It is a flimsy discourse of no use’: Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī’s Polemic Against Ibn al-Nafīs in his Tuḥfa al-Saʿdiyya,” Majlis Revisited: Inter- and Intra-Religious and Cross-cultural Disputations in the Islamicate World, Cordoba, Spain, April 12–14, 2018.
"'We have seen this many times': Ibn al-Nafīs's Critique of Galenic Humoral Theory and the Anatomy and Physiology of Digestion,'' Middle East Studies Association: Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., November 18–21, 2017.
''Discussions of Plague in the Arabic Medical Commentaries on the Canon of Medicine and the Epitome,'' The American Association for the History of Medicine, 90th Annual Meeting, Nasville, TN, May 4–7, 2017.
''Negotiating Pedagogical, Dialectical, and Medical Practices in Commentaries on the Kulliyyāt (Book one) of the Canon of Medicine: Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī versus Ibn al-Nafīs,'' ʿIlm wa ʿAmal: Nature, Body and Space in Medieval and Early Modern Islamicate Societies, Stanford University, CA, April 14–15, 2017.
" 'Blood is Pure Nutriment; The Remaining Humors are Like Helpful Spices': Ibn al-Nafīs and the Post-Avicennan Transformation of Humoral Theory in Western Eurasia," History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, November 3–6, 2016.
''The Role of Commentaries and their Movements in the Production of Medical Knowledge in Islamic Societies, 1200–1520,'' Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, November 21–24, 2015.
"Generation in Ibn al-Nafīs's Commentary on the Aphorisms," Arabic Commentaries on the Hippocratic Aphorisms Conference, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK, April 9–11, 2015.
"Avicenna, Ibn al-Nafīs, and New Developments in Physiology in Western Eurasia, 1200–1560," Early Science Working Group, Philadelphia Area Center for History of Science, Philadelphia, PA, February 12, 2015.
"Alternatives to Galenic Physiology in the Islamic World: The Evidence from the Commentary Tradition, 1200–1500," History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, November 6–9, 2014.
"Medicine and Islam: Conflict or Integration?" GenerationsRise: Elevating Muslim American Culture, 51st Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) Annual Convention, Detroit, MI, August 29–September 1, 2014.
"Generation in the Medieval Islamic World," Reproduction Workshop, Cambridge University, Cambridge, July 4–5, 2014.
"Engaging the Public on the History of Science in Islamic Societies," and "The Impact of Using Branch Points Rather Than Endpoints to Study the Trajectory of Theoretical Medicine in Islamic Societies," Studies of Knowledge in Eurasia and Africa: Issues of Methodology and Future Perspectives, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, June 30–July 1, 2014.
"Non-Galenic Physiologies in the Commentaries on Avicenna's Canon and Ibn al-Nafīs's Epitome," The American Association for the History of Medicine, 87th Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, May 8–11, 2014.
"Integrating the Islamic World in History of Science Curricula," The Midwest Association for Middle East and Islamic Studies, Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, April 12, 2014.
"Medical and Religious Discussions of Generation in the Islamic World, 1200--1500," The Healing Arts Across the Mediterranean: Migrations and Interactions, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, March 28, 2014.
"Scientific and Religious Discussions of Generation during the Mamluk Period," Conference: Science in Judaism and Islam, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, March 10, 2014.
"Alternatives to Galenic Physiology in the Pre-Modern Islamic World," Medical Humanities Workgroup, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, September 26–27, 2013.
"Branch Points in Theoretical Medicine: Avicennian Physiology and its Critique and Elaboration in post-1200 Islamicate Societies,'' Globalizing Histories of Science, Technology and Medicine, New York University, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., May 19-21, 2013.
"Medical Commentaries: A Preliminary Examination of Ibn al-Nafīs's Shurūḥ, the Mūjaz al-Ṭibb and Subsequent Commentaries on the Mūjaz,'' The Ḥāshiya and Islamic Intellectual History, University of California, Berkeley, October 12-14, 2012 (Funded by the Mellon Foundation, John E. Sawyer Seminar Series).
"The Definition of Medicine in Ibn al-Nafīs's Shurūḥ and his Mūjaz,'' Seminar Two: Rationalist Sciences II: The History of Science in the Post-Classical Period (Astronomy, Optics, Life Sciences, and Mathematics), Washington University, St. Louis, April 27-29, 2012 (Funded by the Mellon Foundation, John E. Sawyer Seminar Series).
"Ibn al-Nafīs's New Physiology,'' Situating Science: Atlantic Node Work in Progress, University of King's College, Halifax, Canada, January 27, 2011.
"Pulmonary Transit and Bodily Resurrection: Ibn al-Nafīs and Thirteenth Century Debates Over Reason and Revelation,'' Situating Science: Atlantic Node Work in Progress, University of King's College, Halifax, Canada, September 30, 2010.
"Merging Disciplinary Boundaries: Soul and Spirit in the Writings of Ibn al-Nafīs," Three Societies Conference, Sixth Joint Meeting of the British Society for the History of Science, the Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science, and the History of Science Society: Connecting Disciplines, Keble College, Oxford, England, July 4-July 6, 2008.
"The Philosophical Roots of Ibn al-Nafīs's New Theory of the Pulmonary Transit,'' History, Philosophy and Ethics of Medicine: Reconstruction, Concepts, Cultural Practices, Mainz, Germany, February 29-March 1, 2008.
"Soul and Spirit in Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān: Aristotelianism, Monistic Mysticism and the Problem of Individuation," American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, November 17-20, 2007.
"Soul, Spirit, Resurrection and the Discovery of the Pulmonary Transit of Blood," History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Arlington, VA, November 1-4, 2007.
"The Virtuous Son of the Rational: A Traditionalist's Response to the Falāsifa,'' International Conference on Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, New York, NY, October 14-16, 2005.
"Defining the limits for constructing a model for Islamic science: A response to Ahmad Dallal and Alparsalan Açikgenc,'' God, Life and Cosmos: Theistic Perspectives, A Conference organized by the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, The International Institute of Islamic Thought, and The Islamic Research Institute, Islamabad, Pakistan, November 6-9, 2000.
"Analytic versus Geometric Methods for Finding Tangents to Curves," Joint Meeting of the Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Mathematics and the British Society of History of Mathematics, Toronto, Canada, July 15-17, 1999.
"The Geometrical Foundations of Calculus: The contributions of Isaac Barrow," Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Science, Sherbrooke, Canada, June 2-3, 1999.
"Barrow's Geometrical Methods for Finding Tangents'' (with Andrew Leahy), American Mathematical Society--Mathematical Association of America Joint Mathematics Meeting, Baltimore, MD, January 7-10, 1998.
"Using Chemical Cross-Linkers to Study Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Dimerization in vivo,'' Student Symposium, Oak Ridge National Laboratories, Oak Ridge, TN, December 4-6, 1996.