Biography

Michael A. Toler has been the Archnet Content Manager in the Aga Khan Documentation Center in the MIT Libraries (AKDC@MIT)since September 2012.  He is responsible for coordinating content and site development in collaboration with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the MIT Libraries, the Aga Khan Programme for Islamic Architecture, and the Digital Humanities development firm Performant Software Solutions, as well as developing relationships with donors and institutional collaborators. He is also responsible for coordinating user support and developing user support resources. 

Prior to that, he served as the Program Director for the Al Musharaka Initiative of the National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education.  Michael was responsible for the development of content for the Arab Culture and Civilization Online Resource, and for coordinating inter-institutional, collaborative endeavors of faculty, librarians, and technologists using technology to enhance teaching and research on topics relating to Islam, the Middle East, and North Africa.

Michael received a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature with a Certificate in Translation Studies from Binghamton University (SUNY), after teaching in Morocco at L'Ecole Supérieure Roi Fahd de Traduction and Al Akhawayn University in Morocco.  He also holds an MA and BA in English from New York University and Virginia Commonwealth University, respectively.  He has published and lectured extensively on digital pedagogy and scholarship, as well as the literature, history, cinema, music, and cyberspace of f the Maghreb, and the Middle East more widely.  Michael is Board Member and Secretary of the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies.