I research and teach the Early and Medieval Mediterranean and Islamic Near East focusing on the intersection of archaeology and history and how these two lines of evidence relate and create dialogue that strengthens both fields. Specifically, I am interested in frontiers, landscape archaeology, and environmental history. My area of specialization is Anatolia and Syria-Palestine (the Levant) from the Byzantine period through the Early and Middle Islamic periods (until the 12th century). I have excavated and surveyed in Israel, Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey since 1996 and recently completed directing excavations at a site on the coast of Turkey in the northeast corner of the Mediterranean known as Tüpras Field, the 10th century frontier fortress of Hisn al-Tinat. I also work on issues of gender and sexuality in classical and modern Mediterranean cultures.