Isabel Toral-Niehoff studied Islamic Studies and History in Tübingen. After her PhD she explored the emergence of Arab identity in Late Antiquity as member of the SFB (multidisciplinary research network) “Identity and Alterity” in Freiburg. Her current research topic focuses the issue of the form and social function of tribal history in Early and Medieval Islam. She is mainly interested in questions of ethnicity, genealogy, migration myths  and nomadic space conceptions.  She is an associated member of the CSG-V.