Brannon Wheeler is a historian of religion and culture (Ph.D., University of Chicago) with over 30 years of experience studying the cultures and civilizations around the Mediterranean (Middle East, Africa, Asia), with particular emphasis on the Islamic world and non-western cultures. He has published eleven books, has traveled to and done research in more than 70 countries across the world, and has been a visiting scholar at more than a dozen institutions in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and across the United States. He has delivered lectures around the world, including in Paris, Oxford, Tokyo, Indonesia, Cairo, Beijing, Jerusalem, Damascus, Oman, Tunisia, Morocco, throughout Europe and in India. He is currently a professor of history at a major public college in Annapolis, and the American Public University System. His most recent book is based on 15 years of field research (including several trips to the regions that are part of this cruise). He is currently doing research on sacred objects and the role of religion in UFO encounters.
