His research interests include Theory and Methodology in the Academic Study of Religion, Critical Islamic Thought, Muslims in the West, Literary and Institutional Sufism, Chinese Religions, Human Rights, Media Studies and Comparative Religions. He specializes on the development of Islam in China and Sino-Islamic intellectual history. His publications can be found in Modern Asian Studies, Journal of Sufi Studies, Philosophy East and West, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences. He is the host of New Books in Religion and New Books in Islamic Studies. At the American Academy of Religion he organized THATCamp “The Humanities and Technology Camp” and serves on the steering committee for the Contemporary Islam Group.