John Daniel Martin III

16 January 2012

Mailing Address: 421 Woodward / Kalamazoo, MI 49007 / USA

Phone: +1.269.779.6533

E-mail: john.d.martin.iii@gmail.com

Current Status:

MA candidate in the Department of Comparative Religion at Western Michigan University. Currently moving from Cairo, Egypt to Kalamazoo, Michigan to complete an MA thesis.

Education:

• MA Candidate, Western Michigan University, Comparative Religion (Expected completion July 2012)
• MA, American University in Cairo, Islamic Studies (February 2012)
  
  Thesis: “Theurgy in the Medieval Islamic World: Conceptions of Cosmology in al-Būnī’s Doctrine of the Divine Names”
  
  Advisor: Saiyad Nizamuddin Ahmad
• BA, Western Michigan University, Latin (April 2006)

Areas of Interest and Specialization:

• Islamic Thought and Theology
• Islamic Mysticism / Sufism
• Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
• Manuscript Studies / Codicology

Additional Education and Training:

• Private Arabic Lessons (Tajweed, Classical and Qur’anic Arabic), Cairo, Egypt (2008)
• Arabic Study Abroad (Egyptian Dialect / Modern Standard Arabic), TAFL Center, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt (Fall 2007)
• Intensive Arabic Study (Egyptian Dialect), Alexandria Center for Languages, Alexandria, Egypt (Summer 2004)
• Archaeological Field School, Rauzet, France (Summer 2000)

Experience:

• Research Assistant, American University in Cairo, Rare Books and Special Collections Library – Regional Architecture Collections Unit, Cairo, Egypt (Fall 2010 – Spring 2011)
• Teaching Assistant, American University in Cairo, Dept. of Arab and Islamic Civilizations, Cairo, Egypt (Spring 2009 – Spring 2011)
• Student Technology Assistant (STA), American University in Cairo, Center for Learning and Teaching, Cairo, Egypt (Fall 2008 – Summer 2010)
• Teaching Assistant, Western Michigan University, Dept. of Comparative Religion, Kalamazoo, MI (Fall 2004 – Spring 2005)

Awards and Grants:

• Research Support Grant (University-wide, Competitive), Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, American University in Cairo, “Theurgy in the Medieval Islamic World: Conceptions of Cosmology in al-Buni’s Doctrine of the Divine Names,” Istanbul, Turkey (June 2011)
• Graduate Work Scholarship, Rare Books and Special Collections, AUC Main Library, American University in Cairo (2010-2011)
• Graduate Assistantship, Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations, American University in Cairo (2009 – 2011)
• Student Technology Assistantship, Center for Learning and Teaching, AUC Main Library, American University in Cairo (2009 – 2010)
• Graduate Work Scholarship, Center for Learning and Teaching, AUC Main Library, American University in Cairo (2008)
• President’s Grant for Study Abroad, Diether H. Haenicke Institute for Global Education, Western Michigan University (2007)
• President’s Scholarship for Study Abroad, Dept. of Foreign Languages, Western Michigan University (2007)
• Graduate Assistantship, Department of Comparative Religion, Western Michigan University (2004 – 2005)

Publications:

• “Primum Non Nocere: Gray Area in Commanding the Right and Forbidding the Wrong,” in Live Evil: Of Magic and Men, edited by Sophia Vivienne Kottmayer (Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2011)

Conference Papers:

• “Punk Rock Muslims: An Exploration of Historical Precedent for Deviant Piety,” Spirituality in the 21st Century: At the Interface of Theory, Praxis and Pedagogy, 1st Global Conference, Prague, Czech Republic (20-22 March 2011)
• “‘For Every Illness and Symptom’: A Pragmatic Study of Medieval Islamic Magical Amulets,” Perspectives on Evil and Human Wickedness, 12th Global Conference, Prague, Czech Republic (17-19 March 2011)
• “Primum Non Nocere: Gray Area in Commanding the Right and Forbidding the Wrong,” Perspectives on Evil and Human Wickedness, 12th Global Conference, Prague, Czech Republic (17-19 March 2011)
• “Politicizing Education: Analyzing Egyptian Pedagogical Literature in the 19th and 20th Centuries,” with Jaimee Hundson, Annual History Seminar, The American University in Cairo, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Cairo, Egypt (26-28 March 2009)

Editorial:

• Spirituality: Theory, Praxis and Pedagogy (e-book), co-editor with Prof. Martin Fowler (Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2011)
• Exploration, Middle East launch editor, Reading University (2011)
• Erudition, Contributor, Reading University (2010-2011)
• Intuition, Satire editor and contributor, Reading University (2010)

Invited Talks and Media:

• “Modern Religion and Spirituality Series II,” Just Friendly Advice, WKMI TalkRadio 1360AM, Kalamazoo, MI, Invited Guest (29 July 2007)
• “Modern Religion and Spirituality Series I,” Just Friendly Advice, WKMI TalkRadio 1360AM, Kalamazoo, MI, Invited Guest (24 June 2007)
• “Whose House is It?: Evaluating Misconceptions of Islam and Muslims World-Wide,” First Presbyterian Church of Richland, Richland, MI, Invited Speaker (4 February 2007)

Community and Service Activities:

• “University on the Square,” digital archive of material from the 25 January 2011 Revolution in Egypt, Developer, American University in Cairo Library, Cairo, Egypt (May – July 2011)
• Desert Development Training Center (DDTC – المركز التكنولوجي المتكامل), Instructor, Intensive English and Computing Workshop, New Basaisa, Ras Sudr, South Sinai (August 2010)
• American Research Center in Egypt, IT consultant and technician, Registration, Collections Management, and Documentation Department (RCMDD), Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt (2010 – 2011)
• British Community Association, Mohandiseen, Cairo, Membership secretary (Acting), Cairo, Egypt (2009 – 2011)
• My Arabic Story, English language editor, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (2006 – 2008)

Affiliations:

• Middle East Studies Association, Graduate member, (2008 – Present)
• American Academy of Religion, Graduate member, (2008 – Present)
• Societas Magica, Member, (2010 – Present)