Talks & Conferences

Selected Talks, and Academic Conferences

“Planetary Pavilions and the Ethics of Islamic Kingship: The Seven Princesses as Moral Exemplars in Nizami’s Haft Paykar.”
Panel: “Imagining Muslim Women in Medieval Culture”
International Medieval Congress (IMC), July 6–9, 2026 — University of Leeds, United Kingdom.

“The World of Djinns and Rakshasas: Monsters as Visual Epistemic Devices in Medieval Islamicate Manuscripts.”
Session: “Monsters on the Page: Interdisciplinary Examinations of Monsters in Manuscripts”
61st International Congress on Medieval Studies, May 14–16, 2026 — Kalamazoo, Michigan.

“The Staging of Books in Cinematic Interiors: Princess Jasmine’s Books in Disney’s Aladdin.”
Presented at the State Library of New South Wales Australia and New Zealand Rare Book School Program, February 2026 — Sydney, Australia.

“Jesuit Passion at the Mughal Court: The Mirʾāt al-quds and Akbar’s Courtly Reception of Christian Narratives.”
Confound the Time: Reception in Medieval & Early Modern Studies (Virtual Conference), January 24–25, 2026.

“Europe Dyed in Chintz: Indian Cotton, Protectionist Laws, and the Political Economy of Textile Exchange in the Early Modern World (c. 1600–1800).”
Historical Clothing and Textiles in Europe Conference, February 26–27, 2026.

Conference Roles and Invited Lectures

Session Chair — “Translation and Transfer of Knowledge”
Association for Asian Studies (AAS) Annual Conference, March 14, 2025 — Columbus, Ohio.

Guest Speaker — Leadership Live 2024
Incarnate Word Academy, November 15, 2024 — Houston, Texas.

Lecture: “From Entrepreneurship to Academia: How Running a Business Catalyzed My Passion for Research and Transformed My Academic Path.”

Instagram event post:
Leadership Live 2024 Event Post

“Malik Ambar’s Ascendancy in the Deccan Sultanates: From Enslavement to Military Strategist in Resistance Against Mughal Imperialism.”
53rd Annual Conference on South Asia, October 22–25, 2025 — Madison, Wisconsin.

“The Jarawa of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Struggle for Autonomy and Ecological Survival Among South Asian Indigenous Communities and Their Parallels with Indigenous Tribes of the Americas.”
American Society for Ethnohistory Conference, October 9–11, 2025 — San Antonio, Texas.

“Fractured Hearts Still Speak: Social and Ethnic Allegories in the Layla and Majnun Narrative Through Textual and Visual Artistic Expression from Persia to Mughal India.”
New Generations Conference, Department of Middle Eastern Studies, University of Texas at Austin, April 2, 2025 — Austin, Texas.

“Thomas Jefferson’s Qur'an and the Limits of Liberty: Enlightenment Ideals, Islam, and Religious Autonomy in Early America.”
College English Association (CEA) Annual Conference, April 2025 — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“Brushstrokes of Resistance: Amrita Sher-Gil's Artistic Defiance and the Intersections of Identity, Gender, and Colonial Legacy.”
Texas Association for Asian American Diaspora Studies (TAAADS) Annual Symposium, February 28–March 1, 2025 — Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.

“Persian Intellectual and Aesthetic Influences in the Qutb Shahi Sultanate: A Study of Architectural and Literary Patronage in the Early Modern Deccan.”
Postgraduate Visual Studies Conference, School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, October 18–20, 2024 (virtual session) — New Delhi, India.

“Iconographic and Artistic Techniques in Mughal Imperial Portraiture: A Critical Analysis of Visual Strategies for Political Legitimacy and Sovereign Authority.”
University of St. Thomas, 2024 — Houston, Texas.

“Patronage of Knowledge Production: The Mughal Imperial Library and the Politics of Legitimizing Rule.”
College English Association (CEA) Annual Conference, 2023 — San Antonio, Texas.

Participant — Distinguished Diplomat Program Briefing Luncheon on Israel–Lebanon Maritime Negotiations
Hosted by the University of St. Thomas International Studies Department for Ambassador David Satterfield, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University — Houston, Texas.

“Desert Mothers: Female Anchorite and Monastic Tradition in the Early Christian World.”
University of St. Thomas Annual Research Symposium, April 2022 — Houston, Texas.

“Gulbadan Begum: A Study of Her Memoir and Its Contribution to Mughal Court Historiography in Relation to Abul Fazl and Badauni.”
University of St. Thomas Honors Research Symposium, April 2009 — Houston, Texas.

“A Philanthropic Journey in the Life of Mohan Singh Sambih.”
Texas Gulf Coast Intercollegiate Honors Conference, 2008 — Houston, Texas.

“A Philanthropic Journey in the Life of Mohan Singh Sambih.”
Creative Arts and Great Plains Honors Council Conference, 2007 — Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma.