Torsten received his Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from Lund University, Sweden, in 2003 with the publication of his dissertation Your Cradle Is Green: The Islamic Foundation and the Call to Islam in Children's Literature. He has been teaching Islamic and religious studies at Lund University; religion, education and cultural studies at Malmö University; and religious studies and education at Halmstad University. In 2010, he was recruited to establish the Lund University MA-program in Middle Eastern studies. Until 2014 he held the position of CMES Director of studies. Since 2014, he works on several research projects. Torsten retains his interest for Islamic education and the role of children’s literature in religious didactics. Another project concerns refugees and educational reform and in the Middle East, with a focus on higher education among Palestinian young adults in Lebanon. He is also doing research on Turkish politics, with a focus on visual representations of religion and politics in public space, as well as on cultural production, youth and political contest in Lebanon. He is currently initiating an international research project on the state of the art of children’s literature in the Middle East. Torsten is frequently engaged as a public lecturer on Islamic studies, refugee studies, education and migration at various events and educations.