[EASST-Eurograd] Funded PhD Scholarship at Liverpool (" Islamicate Scholars, Algorithms and the Making of the Contemporary World: A Decolonial Study of Mathematical, Scientific and Technological Practice in the Islamic Golden Age")

[Brooker, Phillip via Eurograd]

Hi all

We have a new PhD Opportunity at the University of Liverpool, starting September/October 2024: https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/islamicate-scholars-algorithms-and-the-making-of-the-contemporary-world-a-decolonial-study-of-mathematical-scientific-and-technological-practice-in-the-islamic-golden-age/?p172975

Working in partnership with the World Museum Liverpool across their science and global cultures collection, the aim of the study is to recover the algorithmic methods developed during the Islamic Golden Age (in dialogue with a variety of Eastern traditions, primarily in India and China, as well those of Greece) through a series of re-enactments in the field of mathematics (arithmetic and algebra), technology (the astrolabe) and astronomy (via the systematic collection of data in the production of star charts). The project is an attempt to rethink computation, and by extension contemporary AI, ethnomethodologically but also in explicitly decolonial terms.

 The available funding can cover an MA/MRes as well as 3 years of PhD funding, so undergraduates with a broad background or desire to learn in the domains relevant to the study can apply. The PhD is also open to international students. A lot of support will also be made available to the successful candidate and the underlying mathematics, while groundbreaking at the time, is (relatively) elementary and knowledge of classical Arabic is not a pre-requisite – critical editions of all of the texts are available in translation.

 While the timescale is quite tight (with the application deadline being Friday 19th July), if any of your students are interested and want to know more, please do feel free to direct them to myself (p.d.b...@liverpool.ac.uk) or Michael Mair (mdm...@liverpool.ac.uk) and we’ll happily answer any questions the students may have.

Many thanks!

Phil Brooker