Fares is a PhD candidate at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. His research examines how Islamic devotion shapes the way that Muslim humanitarians apply Islamic principles. These principles can diverge as both Muslims and secular humanitarians often prioritize different values in humanitarian work. Fares specifically investigate how Muslim humanitarians rationalize their work within a secular humanitarian governance system given the differences in values and priorities.

Fares completed both his BA in Political Science and Economics and his MA in Political Science at Western University. Joining the BSIA represents a small shift in his academic interests as it allows him to move away from quantitative analysis toward more ethnographically-inspired methods. These methods are integral in producing a bottom-up approach to his research which allows Muslims to speak for themselves and produce local knowledge that might contest mainstream understandings of several Muslim concepts.