Bryan Averbuch (Assistant Professor) received his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University in 2013, and his M.A. and B.A. from the University of Washington in Seattle. His research focuses on the commerce and cultural exchanges across the pre- and early-modern tropical Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Rim. His academic and teaching interests include world and environmental history, maritime archaeology, the Silk and Spice Routes, and the histories and cultures of the Islamic world.