By Way of Introducing Myself

Hello Go4Expert community! My name is Joshua, and I look forward to participating here.

I am a self-trained Web Designer/Developer comfortable with XHTML and CSS, PHP, ColdFusion, Flash/Actionscript, and JavaScript. (Well, I am as comfortable as one can be when trying to get things consistent between IE, Firefox, Safari, and Opera. ) I work as part of a web development team for a state university in the United States, charged with acting as a liaison between this university's faculty and our department with the goal of creating modern, accessible, and compliant websites to bring our faculty's research to the public.

Strangely enough, my college degrees do not reflect my current position. I have bachelor's degrees in History (focus in Middle Eastern History) and Sociology, and I am preparing to pursue a Ph.D in Middle Eastern Studies and Language. I am passionate about enlightening the people of the United States--and the West in general--about Middle Eastern and Islamic culture. There are many dangerous misconceptions held by Westerners about Muslims, Arabs, Turks, Iranians, etc., and I hope one day Westerners can come to see their fellow humans in the Middle East or of the Islamic religion as equals, without fear, and in realistic terms.

Despite this, I never intend to abandon the "tech side of things," as it were. Whether it be helping my future students out with a custom web interface or using the web to distribute my research, I believe it is important--to me, at least--to keep current and sharp with my design and development skills. I am sure Go4Expert will be one of the ways I can do this.

I look forward to discussing with you.

Peace,
Joshua