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What do you teach at Ca’ Foscari?
I teach Arabic.

What are your main research interests?  
I deal with Christian Arab literature, covering topics of theology, philosophy, dialogue between religions and apocryphal literature.
I am currently focusing on how ancient Greek philosophy was passed on through Syriac, on theological Arabic literature, that is how metaphysical, logical and dialogical treatises were translated and developed and their application in Arabic theological thought.

Can you tell us something about you and your academic career?  
I am a researcher at Ca' Foscari, part of an ERC project, FLOS, which addresses the translation of Greek patristic thought into Syriac and its impact on Arab literature. 

What led you to pursue a research career? 
I have been interested in Arab Christian heritage since I was a student. Metaphysics and human logic were two subjects that fascinated me during my years of study in Greece, so I was able to link two worlds that interested me into a single field of research to find out more about the development of philosophical, especially metaphysical, thought and its application in pure theological or interfaith treatises.

What topics interest you the most?
Metaphysics and its application in theology, the dialogue between Christianity and Islam in Arabic, the connection between philosophy and the development of language. 

What does teaching at the university mean to you?
Teaching for me means passing on knowledge, exchanging knowledge and reflecting on it, so that, through critical and creative dialogue, you can help develop science and its proposition/cultural aspect.

You work in a department dealing with non-European worlds: what does working on cultural diversity mean to you in an increasingly interconnected world?
I myself belong to a non-European world and have lived for years as a foreigner in Europe. My experience over the years has convinced me of the importance of facing diversity, intercultural dialogue and knowledge of others' civilisations, which leads to respecting their diversity, understanding them and coexisting with them peacefully in a world that is becoming more globalised every day.