He coordinates the Secondary Social Studies Program. His scholarly research follows the tenuous relationship between state and local society in the Middle East from ancient times to present. He is currently producing a book on local government in the Middle East entitled Ottoman Notables and Participat​ory Politics: Tanzimat Reform in Tokat, 1839-1876. In it he examines the emergence of a new brand of participatory politics among small town merchants and notables of the region during the nineteenth century. Other research interests include the integration of refugees into Middle Eastern societies, the use of folklore as a method of preserving community memory, and the deployment of mystical imagery in Turkish romance minstrel poetry. He has taught previously at the University of Wisconsin, Bradley University, and Ondokuz Mayis University in Samsun, Turkey.