Dwight Reynolds is a Professor in Religious Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He received his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. His central interests include Arabic Language and Literature, Autobiography, Performance Studies, Oral and Musical Traditions of the Middle East, and Ethnographic Fieldwork Methodologies. His most recent book is Arab Folklore: A Handbook, Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 2007. He is currently working on two projects:  A historical/ethnographic study of Andalusian musical traditions of the Arab world; and A comparative study of Arabic and European Autobiographies from the 9th to the 19th centuries.