Research Associate: The Evolution of Islamic Societies (c.600-1600 CE): Algorithmic Analysis into Social History

The Emmy Noether project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) undertakes a study of the development of the Islamic world through a series of computational analyses of a corpus of Arabic biographical collections and chronicles. The project focuses on three closely connected case studies: 1) of major ethnic, religious, and professional groups – and how they shaped the development of local communities and fused them into what we call the Islamic world; 2) of dynastic cycles through the patterns of the rise and fall of regional powers, their conflicts with rivals, and interactions with local communities; 3) of environmental factors – plagues, famines, droughts, pest infestations, earthquakes, and climate change – and their effect on the life of local communities. These case studies will be the foundation for a robust synthesis of the evolution of the Islamic world over the period under study.

The successful candidate will conduct research on the second case study of dynastic cycles. They will be expected to write a successful PhD thesis on their subject as well as to contribute to the project group’s synthesis of all three case studies and publications.

Application deadline is March 31, 2022.

For more information, please visit the link here.