The Medieval Mediterranean Between Islam and Christianity: A Virtual Book Discussion

Sami Luigi De Giosa

Assistant professor

College of Fine Arts and Design, University of Sharjah, UAE

Sami De Giosa is an Assistant Professor at CFAD, University of Sharjah. Previously, he was the head of the Islamic Museum at the Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Center in Kuwait, a Research Fellow at SOAS, and a senior fellow at the University of Oxford. He was also a curator at the British Museum in charge of exhibitions, including Hajj: Memories of a Journey. Sami’s PhD at SOAS was on the architecture of Mamluk Cairo. His publications include topics on tile production during the Mamluk period and an upcoming book on artistic exchanges between Islam and Christianity during the Middle Ages.

Nikolaos Vryzidis

Adjunct instructor

The School of Applied Arts and Culture, University of West Attica, Greece

Nikolaos Vryzidis received his PhD from SOAS University of London, with a dissertation focusing on the aesthetics of Greek Orthodox ecclesiastical textiles during the Ottoman period. His research primarily explores the applied and minor arts of the late medieval and early modern Mediterranean, with particular emphasis on intercultural dynamics and artistic exchanges in the realm of textile production. He has published widely on these topics in peer-reviewed journals such as Muqarnas and Convivium, as well as in edited volumes. He has held numerous research fellowships both in Greece and internationally, and has taught university-level courses on the history of textiles from Late Antiquity to the Early Modern period, among other related subjects.

Alison Ohta

Director

The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland

Alison Ohta is the director of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. She completed her doctoral thesis at SOAS, University of London, on bindings of the Mamluk period (1250–1516). She has lectured and published widely on the subject.