Project acronym 1stProposal
Project An alternative development of analytic number theory and applications
Researcher (PI) ANDREW Granville
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE1, ERC-2014-ADG
Summary The traditional (Riemann) approach to analytic number theory uses the zeros of zeta functions. This requires the associated multiplicative function, say f(n), to have special enough properties that the associated Dirichlet series may be analytically continued. In this proposal we continue to develop an approach which requires less of the multiplicative function, linking the original question with the mean value of f. Such techniques have been around for a long time but have generally been regarded as “ad hoc”. In this project we aim to show that one can develop a coherent approach to the whole subject, not only reproving all of the old results, but also many new ones that appear inaccessible to traditional methods.
Our first goal is to complete a monograph yielding a reworking of all the classical theory using these new methods and then to push forward in new directions. The most important is to extend these techniques to GL(n) L-functions, which we hope will now be feasible having found the correct framework in which to proceed. Since we rarely know how to analytically continue such L-functions this could be of great benefit to the subject.
We are developing the large sieve so that it can be used for individual moduli, and will determine a strong form of that. Also a new method to give asymptotics for mean values, when they are not too small.
We wish to incorporate techniques of analytic number theory into our theory, for example recent advances on mean values of Dirichlet polynomials. Also the recent breakthroughs on the sieve suggest strong links that need further exploration.
Additive combinatorics yields important results in many areas. There are strong analogies between its results, and those for multiplicative functions, especially in large value spectrum theory, and its applications. We hope to develop these further.
Much of this is joint work with K Soundararajan of Stanford University.
Summary
The traditional (Riemann) approach to analytic number theory uses the zeros of zeta functions. This requires the associated multiplicative function, say f(n), to have special enough properties that the associated Dirichlet series may be analytically continued. In this proposal we continue to develop an approach which requires less of the multiplicative function, linking the original question with the mean value of f. Such techniques have been around for a long time but have generally been regarded as “ad hoc”. In this project we aim to show that one can develop a coherent approach to the whole subject, not only reproving all of the old results, but also many new ones that appear inaccessible to traditional methods.
Our first goal is to complete a monograph yielding a reworking of all the classical theory using these new methods and then to push forward in new directions. The most important is to extend these techniques to GL(n) L-functions, which we hope will now be feasible having found the correct framework in which to proceed. Since we rarely know how to analytically continue such L-functions this could be of great benefit to the subject.
We are developing the large sieve so that it can be used for individual moduli, and will determine a strong form of that. Also a new method to give asymptotics for mean values, when they are not too small.
We wish to incorporate techniques of analytic number theory into our theory, for example recent advances on mean values of Dirichlet polynomials. Also the recent breakthroughs on the sieve suggest strong links that need further exploration.
Additive combinatorics yields important results in many areas. There are strong analogies between its results, and those for multiplicative functions, especially in large value spectrum theory, and its applications. We hope to develop these further.
Much of this is joint work with K Soundararajan of Stanford University.
Max ERC Funding
2 011 742 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-08-01, End date: 2020-07-31
Project acronym AAS
Project Approximate algebraic structure and applications
Researcher (PI) Ben Green
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE1, ERC-2011-StG_20101014
Summary This project studies several mathematical topics with a related theme, all of them part of the relatively new discipline known as additive combinatorics.
We look at approximate, or rough, variants of familiar mathematical notions such as group, polynomial or homomorphism. In each case we seek to describe the structure of these approximate objects, and then to give applications of the resulting theorems. This endeavour has already lead to groundbreaking results in the theory of prime numbers, group theory and combinatorial number theory.
Summary
This project studies several mathematical topics with a related theme, all of them part of the relatively new discipline known as additive combinatorics.
We look at approximate, or rough, variants of familiar mathematical notions such as group, polynomial or homomorphism. In each case we seek to describe the structure of these approximate objects, and then to give applications of the resulting theorems. This endeavour has already lead to groundbreaking results in the theory of prime numbers, group theory and combinatorial number theory.
Max ERC Funding
1 000 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-10-01, End date: 2016-09-30
Project acronym AF and MSOGR
Project Automorphic Forms and Moduli Spaces of Galois Representations
Researcher (PI) Toby Gee
Host Institution (HI) IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE1, ERC-2012-StG_20111012
Summary I propose to establish a research group to develop completely new tools in order to solve three important problems on the relationships between automorphic forms and Galois representations, which lie at the heart of the Langlands program. The first is to prove Serre’s conjecture for real quadratic fields. I will use automorphic induction to transfer the problem to U(4) over the rational numbers, where I will use automorphy lifting theorems and results on the weight part of Serre's conjecture that I established in my earlier work to reduce the problem to proving results in small weight and level. I will prove these base cases via integral p-adic Hodge theory and discriminant bounds.
The second is to develop a geometric theory of moduli spaces of mod p and p-adic Galois representations, and to use it to establish the Breuil–Mézard conjecture in arbitrary dimension, by reinterpreting the conjecture in geometric terms. This will transform the subject by building the first connections between the p-adic Langlands program and the geometric Langlands program, providing an entirely new world of techniques for number theorists. As a consequence of the Breuil-Mézard conjecture, I will be able to deduce far stronger automorphy lifting theorems (in arbitrary dimension) than those currently available.
The third is to completely determine the reduction mod p of certain two-dimensional crystalline representations, and as an application prove a strengthened version of the Gouvêa–Mazur conjecture. I will do this by means of explicit computations with the p-adic local Langlands correspondence for GL_2(Q_p), as well as by improving existing arguments which prove multiplicity one theorems via automorphy lifting theorems. This work will show that the existence of counterexamples to the Gouvêa-Mazur conjecture is due to a purely local phenomenon, and that when this local obstruction vanishes, far stronger conjectures of Buzzard on the slopes of the U_p operator hold.
Summary
I propose to establish a research group to develop completely new tools in order to solve three important problems on the relationships between automorphic forms and Galois representations, which lie at the heart of the Langlands program. The first is to prove Serre’s conjecture for real quadratic fields. I will use automorphic induction to transfer the problem to U(4) over the rational numbers, where I will use automorphy lifting theorems and results on the weight part of Serre's conjecture that I established in my earlier work to reduce the problem to proving results in small weight and level. I will prove these base cases via integral p-adic Hodge theory and discriminant bounds.
The second is to develop a geometric theory of moduli spaces of mod p and p-adic Galois representations, and to use it to establish the Breuil–Mézard conjecture in arbitrary dimension, by reinterpreting the conjecture in geometric terms. This will transform the subject by building the first connections between the p-adic Langlands program and the geometric Langlands program, providing an entirely new world of techniques for number theorists. As a consequence of the Breuil-Mézard conjecture, I will be able to deduce far stronger automorphy lifting theorems (in arbitrary dimension) than those currently available.
The third is to completely determine the reduction mod p of certain two-dimensional crystalline representations, and as an application prove a strengthened version of the Gouvêa–Mazur conjecture. I will do this by means of explicit computations with the p-adic local Langlands correspondence for GL_2(Q_p), as well as by improving existing arguments which prove multiplicity one theorems via automorphy lifting theorems. This work will show that the existence of counterexamples to the Gouvêa-Mazur conjecture is due to a purely local phenomenon, and that when this local obstruction vanishes, far stronger conjectures of Buzzard on the slopes of the U_p operator hold.
Max ERC Funding
1 131 339 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-10-01, End date: 2017-09-30
Project acronym AFRIGOS
Project African Governance and Space: Transport Corridors, Border Towns and Port Cities in Transition
Researcher (PI) Paul Christopher Nugent
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH2, ERC-2014-ADG
Summary AFRIGOS investigates the process of 'respacing' Africa, a political drive towards regional and continental integration, on the one hand, and the re-casting of Africa's engagement with the global economy, on the other. This is reflected in unprecedented levels of investment in physical and communications infrastructure, and the outsourcing of key functions of Customs, Immigration and security agencies. AFRIGOS poses the question of how far respacing is genuinely forging institutions that are facilitating or obstructing the movement of people and goods; that are enabling or preventing urban and border spaces from being more effectively and responsively governed; and that take into account the needs of African populations whose livelihoods are rooted in mobility and informality. The principal research questions are approached through a comparative study of port cities, border towns and other strategic nodes situated along the busiest transport corridors in East, Central, West and Southern Africa. These represent sites of remarkable dynamism and cosmopolitanism, which reflects their role in connecting African urban centres to each other and to other global cities.
AFRIGOS considers how governance 'assemblages' are forged at different scales and is explicitly comparative. It works through 5 connected Streams that address specific questions: 1. AGENDA-SETTING is concerned with policy (re-)formulation. 2. PERIPHERAL URBANISM examines governance in border towns and port cities. 3. BORDER WORKERS addresses everyday governance emerging through the interaction of officials and others who make their livelihoods from the border. 4. CONNECTIVE INFRASTRUCTURE looks as the transformative effects of new technologies. 5. PEOPLE & GOODS IN MOTION traces the passage of people and goods and the regimes of regulation to which they are subjected. AFRIGOS contributes to interdisciplinary research on borderland studies, multi-level governance and the everyday state.
Summary
AFRIGOS investigates the process of 'respacing' Africa, a political drive towards regional and continental integration, on the one hand, and the re-casting of Africa's engagement with the global economy, on the other. This is reflected in unprecedented levels of investment in physical and communications infrastructure, and the outsourcing of key functions of Customs, Immigration and security agencies. AFRIGOS poses the question of how far respacing is genuinely forging institutions that are facilitating or obstructing the movement of people and goods; that are enabling or preventing urban and border spaces from being more effectively and responsively governed; and that take into account the needs of African populations whose livelihoods are rooted in mobility and informality. The principal research questions are approached through a comparative study of port cities, border towns and other strategic nodes situated along the busiest transport corridors in East, Central, West and Southern Africa. These represent sites of remarkable dynamism and cosmopolitanism, which reflects their role in connecting African urban centres to each other and to other global cities.
AFRIGOS considers how governance 'assemblages' are forged at different scales and is explicitly comparative. It works through 5 connected Streams that address specific questions: 1. AGENDA-SETTING is concerned with policy (re-)formulation. 2. PERIPHERAL URBANISM examines governance in border towns and port cities. 3. BORDER WORKERS addresses everyday governance emerging through the interaction of officials and others who make their livelihoods from the border. 4. CONNECTIVE INFRASTRUCTURE looks as the transformative effects of new technologies. 5. PEOPLE & GOODS IN MOTION traces the passage of people and goods and the regimes of regulation to which they are subjected. AFRIGOS contributes to interdisciplinary research on borderland studies, multi-level governance and the everyday state.
Max ERC Funding
2 491 364 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-01-01, End date: 2021-06-30
Project acronym AgricUrb
Project The Agricultural Origins of Urban Civilization
Researcher (PI) Amy Marie Bogaard
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH6, ERC-2012-StG_20111124
Summary The establishment of farming is a pivotal moment in human history, setting the stage for the emergence of class-based society and urbanization. Monolithic views of the nature and development of early agriculture, however, have prevented clear understanding of how exactly farming fuelled, shaped and sustained the emergence of complex societies. A breakthrough in archaeological approach is needed to determine the actual roles of farming in the emergence of social complexity. The methodology required must push beyond conventional interpretation of the most direct farming evidence – archaeobotanical remains of crops and associated arable weeds – to reconstruct not only what crops were grown, but also how, where and why farming was practised. Addressing these related aspects, in contexts ranging from early agricultural villages to some of the world’s earliest cities, would provide the key to unraveling the contribution of farming to the development of lasting social inequalities. The research proposed here takes a new interdisciplinary approach combining archaeobotany, plant stable isotope chemistry and functional plant ecology, building on groundwork laid in previous research by the applicant. These approaches will be applied to two relatively well researched areas, western Asia and Europe, where a series of sites that chart multiple pathways to early complex societies offer rich plant and other bioarchaeological assemblages. The proposed project will set a wholly new standard of insight into early farming and its relationship with early civilization, facilitating similar approaches in other parts of the world and the construction of comparative perspectives on the global significance of early agriculture in social development.
Summary
The establishment of farming is a pivotal moment in human history, setting the stage for the emergence of class-based society and urbanization. Monolithic views of the nature and development of early agriculture, however, have prevented clear understanding of how exactly farming fuelled, shaped and sustained the emergence of complex societies. A breakthrough in archaeological approach is needed to determine the actual roles of farming in the emergence of social complexity. The methodology required must push beyond conventional interpretation of the most direct farming evidence – archaeobotanical remains of crops and associated arable weeds – to reconstruct not only what crops were grown, but also how, where and why farming was practised. Addressing these related aspects, in contexts ranging from early agricultural villages to some of the world’s earliest cities, would provide the key to unraveling the contribution of farming to the development of lasting social inequalities. The research proposed here takes a new interdisciplinary approach combining archaeobotany, plant stable isotope chemistry and functional plant ecology, building on groundwork laid in previous research by the applicant. These approaches will be applied to two relatively well researched areas, western Asia and Europe, where a series of sites that chart multiple pathways to early complex societies offer rich plant and other bioarchaeological assemblages. The proposed project will set a wholly new standard of insight into early farming and its relationship with early civilization, facilitating similar approaches in other parts of the world and the construction of comparative perspectives on the global significance of early agriculture in social development.
Max ERC Funding
1 199 647 €
Duration
Start date: 2013-02-01, End date: 2017-01-31
Project acronym AISMA
Project An anthropological investigation of muscular politics in South Asia
Researcher (PI) Lucia Michelutti
Host Institution (HI) University College London
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH2, ERC-2011-StG_20101124
Summary Over the past decade, the media, international organisations, as well as policy-making bodies have voiced increasing concern about a growing overlap between the criminal and political spheres in South Asia. Many 'criminal politicians' are accused not simply of embezzlement, but of burglary, kidnapping and murder, so that the observed political landscape emerges not only as a 'corrupt', but also a highly violent sphere. This project is a collaborative and cross-national ethnographic study of the criminalisation of politics in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Bringing together local-level investigation, surveys and historical analysis, the project will produce comprehensive political ethnographies in sixteen sites across the subcontinent, providing empirical material and theoretical directives for further charting of the virtually unexplored terrain of extra-legal muscular politics in the region. Central to the proposed programme of research are the following interrelated objectives: 1) To further develop the method of collaborative political ethnography by designing, collecting and producing case studies which will allow us to write thematically across sites; 2) To generate policy relevant research in the fields of security, conflict, democracy and development; 3) To produce capability by forging an international network of scholars on issues related to democratisation, violence, crime and support the work and careers of the project's 4 Post-docs. The study capitalises on previous research and skills of the PI in the cross-cultural study of democracy and muscular politics in the global South. All members of the research team have expertise in ethnographic research in the difficult spheres of criminal politics, informal economies, and political violence and are hence well and sometimes uniquely equipped to pursue this challenging research thematic.
Summary
Over the past decade, the media, international organisations, as well as policy-making bodies have voiced increasing concern about a growing overlap between the criminal and political spheres in South Asia. Many 'criminal politicians' are accused not simply of embezzlement, but of burglary, kidnapping and murder, so that the observed political landscape emerges not only as a 'corrupt', but also a highly violent sphere. This project is a collaborative and cross-national ethnographic study of the criminalisation of politics in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Bringing together local-level investigation, surveys and historical analysis, the project will produce comprehensive political ethnographies in sixteen sites across the subcontinent, providing empirical material and theoretical directives for further charting of the virtually unexplored terrain of extra-legal muscular politics in the region. Central to the proposed programme of research are the following interrelated objectives: 1) To further develop the method of collaborative political ethnography by designing, collecting and producing case studies which will allow us to write thematically across sites; 2) To generate policy relevant research in the fields of security, conflict, democracy and development; 3) To produce capability by forging an international network of scholars on issues related to democratisation, violence, crime and support the work and careers of the project's 4 Post-docs. The study capitalises on previous research and skills of the PI in the cross-cultural study of democracy and muscular politics in the global South. All members of the research team have expertise in ethnographic research in the difficult spheres of criminal politics, informal economies, and political violence and are hence well and sometimes uniquely equipped to pursue this challenging research thematic.
Max ERC Funding
1 200 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-03-01, End date: 2016-02-29
Project acronym AnCon
Project A Comparative Anthropology of Conscience, Ethics and Human Rights
Researcher (PI) Tobias William Kelly
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), SH2, ERC-2014-CoG
Summary This project is a comparative anthropology of conscience, ethics and human rights. Numerous international human rights documents formally declare their commitment to protect freedom of conscience. But, what is conscience and how do we know it when we see it? How do we distinguish it from self-interest or fanaticism? And what happens when the concept, often associated with a distinct Christian or liberal history, travels across cultural boundaries? The project will examine the cultural conditions under which claims to conscience are made possible, and the types of claims that are most persuasive when doing so. The project addresses these issues through the comparative analysis of three case studies: British pacifists, Sri Lankan activists, and Soviet dissidents. These case studies have been carefully chosen to provide globally significant, but contrasting examples of contests over the implications of claims to conscience. If claims of conscience are often associated with a specifically liberal and Christian tradition, mid-twentieth century Britain can be said to stand at the centre of that tradition. Sri Lanka represents a particularly fraught post-colonial South Asian counterpoint, wracked by nationalist violence, and influenced by ethical traditions associated with forms of Hinduism and Buddhism. Soviet Russia represents a further contrast, a totalitarian regime, where atheism was the dominant ethical language. Finally, the project will return specifically to international human rights institutions, examining the history of the category of conscience in the UN human rights system. This project will be ground breaking, employing novel methods and analytical insights, in order to producing the first comparative analysis of the cultural and political salience of claims of conscience. In doing so, the research aims to transform our understandings of the limits and potentials of attempts to protect freedom of conscience.
Summary
This project is a comparative anthropology of conscience, ethics and human rights. Numerous international human rights documents formally declare their commitment to protect freedom of conscience. But, what is conscience and how do we know it when we see it? How do we distinguish it from self-interest or fanaticism? And what happens when the concept, often associated with a distinct Christian or liberal history, travels across cultural boundaries? The project will examine the cultural conditions under which claims to conscience are made possible, and the types of claims that are most persuasive when doing so. The project addresses these issues through the comparative analysis of three case studies: British pacifists, Sri Lankan activists, and Soviet dissidents. These case studies have been carefully chosen to provide globally significant, but contrasting examples of contests over the implications of claims to conscience. If claims of conscience are often associated with a specifically liberal and Christian tradition, mid-twentieth century Britain can be said to stand at the centre of that tradition. Sri Lanka represents a particularly fraught post-colonial South Asian counterpoint, wracked by nationalist violence, and influenced by ethical traditions associated with forms of Hinduism and Buddhism. Soviet Russia represents a further contrast, a totalitarian regime, where atheism was the dominant ethical language. Finally, the project will return specifically to international human rights institutions, examining the history of the category of conscience in the UN human rights system. This project will be ground breaking, employing novel methods and analytical insights, in order to producing the first comparative analysis of the cultural and political salience of claims of conscience. In doing so, the research aims to transform our understandings of the limits and potentials of attempts to protect freedom of conscience.
Max ERC Funding
1 457 869 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-08-01, End date: 2021-01-31
Project acronym APGRAPH
Project Asymptotic Graph Properties
Researcher (PI) Deryk Osthus
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE1, ERC-2012-StG_20111012
Summary Many parts of Graph Theory have witnessed a huge growth over the last years, partly because of their relation to Theoretical Computer Science and Statistical Physics. These connections arise because graphs can be used to model many diverse structures.
The focus of this proposal is on asymptotic results, i.e. the graphs under consideration are large. This often unveils patterns and connections which remain obscure when considering only small graphs.
It also allows for the use of powerful techniques such as probabilistic arguments, which have led to spectacular new developments. In particular, my aim is to make decisive progress on central problems in the following 4 areas:
(1) Factorizations: Factorizations of graphs can be viewed as partitions of the edges of a graph into simple regular structures. They have a rich history and arise in many different settings, such as edge-colouring problems, decomposition problems and in information theory. They also have applications to finding good tours for the famous Travelling salesman problem.
(2) Hamilton cycles: A Hamilton cycle is a cycle which contains all the vertices of the graph. One of the most fundamental problems in Graph Theory/Theoretical Computer Science is to find conditions which guarantee the existence of a Hamilton cycle in a graph.
(3) Embeddings of graphs: This is a natural (but difficult) continuation of the previous question where the aim is to embed more general structures than Hamilton cycles - there has been exciting progress here in recent years which has opened up new avenues.
(4) Resilience of graphs: In many cases, it is important to know whether a graph `strongly’ possesses some property, i.e. one cannot destroy the property by changing a few edges. The systematic study of this notion is a new and rapidly growing area.
I have developed new methods for deep and long-standing problems in these areas which will certainly lead to further applications elsewhere.
Summary
Many parts of Graph Theory have witnessed a huge growth over the last years, partly because of their relation to Theoretical Computer Science and Statistical Physics. These connections arise because graphs can be used to model many diverse structures.
The focus of this proposal is on asymptotic results, i.e. the graphs under consideration are large. This often unveils patterns and connections which remain obscure when considering only small graphs.
It also allows for the use of powerful techniques such as probabilistic arguments, which have led to spectacular new developments. In particular, my aim is to make decisive progress on central problems in the following 4 areas:
(1) Factorizations: Factorizations of graphs can be viewed as partitions of the edges of a graph into simple regular structures. They have a rich history and arise in many different settings, such as edge-colouring problems, decomposition problems and in information theory. They also have applications to finding good tours for the famous Travelling salesman problem.
(2) Hamilton cycles: A Hamilton cycle is a cycle which contains all the vertices of the graph. One of the most fundamental problems in Graph Theory/Theoretical Computer Science is to find conditions which guarantee the existence of a Hamilton cycle in a graph.
(3) Embeddings of graphs: This is a natural (but difficult) continuation of the previous question where the aim is to embed more general structures than Hamilton cycles - there has been exciting progress here in recent years which has opened up new avenues.
(4) Resilience of graphs: In many cases, it is important to know whether a graph `strongly’ possesses some property, i.e. one cannot destroy the property by changing a few edges. The systematic study of this notion is a new and rapidly growing area.
I have developed new methods for deep and long-standing problems in these areas which will certainly lead to further applications elsewhere.
Max ERC Funding
818 414 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-12-01, End date: 2018-11-30
Project acronym AR.C.H.I.VES
Project A comparative history of archives in late medieval and early modern Italy
Researcher (PI) Filippo Luciano Carlo De Vivo
Host Institution (HI) BIRKBECK COLLEGE - UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH6, ERC-2011-StG_20101124
Summary Most historians work in archives, but generally have not made archives into their primary object of research. While we tend to be preoccupied by documentary loss, what is striking is the sheer amount of paperwork preserved over the centuries. We need to study the reasons for this preservation.
This project wishes to study the history of the archives and of the chanceries that oversaw their production storage and organization in late medieval and early modern Italy: essentially from the creation of the first chanceries in city-states in the late twelfth century to the opening of the Archivi di Stato that, after the ancient states’ dissolution, preserved documents as tools for scholarship rather than administration. Because of its fragmented political history, concentrating on Italy means having access to the archives of a wide variety of regimes; in turn, as institutions pursuing similar functions, archives lend themselves to comparison and therefore such research may help us overcome the traditional disconnectedness in the study of Italy’s past.
The project proposes to break significantly new ground, first, by adopting a comparative approach through the in-depth analysis of seven case studies and, second, by contextualising the study of archives away from institutional history in a wider social and cultural context, by focusing on six themes researched in six successive phases: 1) the political role of archives, and the efforts devoted by governments to their development; 2) their organization, subdivisions, referencing systems; 3) the material culture of documents and physical repositories as well as spatial locations; 4) the social characteristiscs of the staff; 5) the archives’ place in society, including their access and misuse; 6) their use by historians. As implied in the choice of these themes, the project is deliberately interdisciplinary, and aims at the mutually beneficial exchange between archivists, social, political cultural and art historians.
Summary
Most historians work in archives, but generally have not made archives into their primary object of research. While we tend to be preoccupied by documentary loss, what is striking is the sheer amount of paperwork preserved over the centuries. We need to study the reasons for this preservation.
This project wishes to study the history of the archives and of the chanceries that oversaw their production storage and organization in late medieval and early modern Italy: essentially from the creation of the first chanceries in city-states in the late twelfth century to the opening of the Archivi di Stato that, after the ancient states’ dissolution, preserved documents as tools for scholarship rather than administration. Because of its fragmented political history, concentrating on Italy means having access to the archives of a wide variety of regimes; in turn, as institutions pursuing similar functions, archives lend themselves to comparison and therefore such research may help us overcome the traditional disconnectedness in the study of Italy’s past.
The project proposes to break significantly new ground, first, by adopting a comparative approach through the in-depth analysis of seven case studies and, second, by contextualising the study of archives away from institutional history in a wider social and cultural context, by focusing on six themes researched in six successive phases: 1) the political role of archives, and the efforts devoted by governments to their development; 2) their organization, subdivisions, referencing systems; 3) the material culture of documents and physical repositories as well as spatial locations; 4) the social characteristiscs of the staff; 5) the archives’ place in society, including their access and misuse; 6) their use by historians. As implied in the choice of these themes, the project is deliberately interdisciplinary, and aims at the mutually beneficial exchange between archivists, social, political cultural and art historians.
Max ERC Funding
1 107 070 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-02-01, End date: 2016-07-31
Project acronym ARABCOMMAPH
Project Arabic Commentaries on the Hippocratic Aphorisms
Researcher (PI) Peter Ernst Pormann
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
Country United Kingdom
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH6, ERC-2011-StG_20101124
Summary The Hippocratic Aphorisms have exerted a singular influence over generations of physicians both in the East and in the West. Galen (d. c. 216) produced an extensive commentary on this text, as did other medical authors writing in Greek, Latin, Arabic, and Hebrew. The Arabic tradition is particularly rich, with more than a dozen commentaries extant in over a hundred manuscripts. These Arabic commentaries did not merely contain scholastic debates, but constituted important venues for innovation and change. Moreover, they impacted on medical practice, as the Aphorisms were so popular that both doctors and their patients knew them by heart. Despite their importance for medical theory and practice, previous scholarship on them has barely scratched the surface. Put succinctly, the present project breaks new ground by conducting an in-depth study of this tradition through a highly innovative methodology: it approaches the available evidence as a corpus, to be constituted electronically, and to be analysed in an interdisciplinary way.
We propose to survey the manuscript tradition of the Arabic commentaries on the Hippocratic Aphorisms, beginning with Ḥunayn ibn ʾIsḥāq’s Arabic translation of Galen’s commentary. On the basis of this philological survey that will employ a new approach to stemmatics, we shall produce provisional electronic XML editions of the commentaries. These texts will constitute the corpus, some 600,000 words long, that we shall investigate through the latest IT tools to address a set of interdisciplinary problems: textual criticism of the Greek sources; Graeco-Arabic translation technique; methods of quotation; hermeneutic procedures; development of medical theory; medical practice; and social history of medicine. Both in approach and scope, the project will bring about a paradigm shift in our study of exegetical cultures in Arabic, and the role that commentaries played in the transmission and transformation of scientific knowledge.
Summary
The Hippocratic Aphorisms have exerted a singular influence over generations of physicians both in the East and in the West. Galen (d. c. 216) produced an extensive commentary on this text, as did other medical authors writing in Greek, Latin, Arabic, and Hebrew. The Arabic tradition is particularly rich, with more than a dozen commentaries extant in over a hundred manuscripts. These Arabic commentaries did not merely contain scholastic debates, but constituted important venues for innovation and change. Moreover, they impacted on medical practice, as the Aphorisms were so popular that both doctors and their patients knew them by heart. Despite their importance for medical theory and practice, previous scholarship on them has barely scratched the surface. Put succinctly, the present project breaks new ground by conducting an in-depth study of this tradition through a highly innovative methodology: it approaches the available evidence as a corpus, to be constituted electronically, and to be analysed in an interdisciplinary way.
We propose to survey the manuscript tradition of the Arabic commentaries on the Hippocratic Aphorisms, beginning with Ḥunayn ibn ʾIsḥāq’s Arabic translation of Galen’s commentary. On the basis of this philological survey that will employ a new approach to stemmatics, we shall produce provisional electronic XML editions of the commentaries. These texts will constitute the corpus, some 600,000 words long, that we shall investigate through the latest IT tools to address a set of interdisciplinary problems: textual criticism of the Greek sources; Graeco-Arabic translation technique; methods of quotation; hermeneutic procedures; development of medical theory; medical practice; and social history of medicine. Both in approach and scope, the project will bring about a paradigm shift in our study of exegetical cultures in Arabic, and the role that commentaries played in the transmission and transformation of scientific knowledge.
Max ERC Funding
1 499 968 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-02-01, End date: 2017-07-31