Dr. Joseph Youssef is Associate Professor of the Anthropology of Religion at Agora University. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Anthropology from the University of Toronto. Joseph completed his doctorate in Anthropology from the University of Toronto where he focused on Coptic Orthodox Monasticism and its influence on Coptic laity. His research examines questions of exemplarity, virtue, and political theology, both in Egypt and the Coptic Diaspora in North America. His research interests include: Exemplarity, Monasticism, Asceticism, Transnationalism, Diaspora, Morality and Ethics, Political Theology, and Pilgrimage.