machte 2004 an der University of Toronto einen B.A. in Orientalistik ("Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations") und klassischem Griechisch;machte 2006 an der American University in Cairo einen M.A. in Arabistik (mit der Abschlussarbeit "Relations between the Fatimid caliphate and the tribal peoples of Egypt and North Africa"); 2012 Promotion (Ph.D.) am Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations der University of Toronto (mit der Diss. "The struggle for North Africa between Almohads, Ayyubids and Banū Ghāniya")