Project information
Generativní historiografie antického Středomoří: Modelování a simulace dynamiky šíření náboženských představ a forem chování
(GEHIR)
- Project Identification
- MUNI/M/1867/2014
- Project Period
- 3/2015 - 12/2017
- Investor / Pogramme / Project type
-
Masaryk University
- Grant Agency of Masaryk University
- INTERDISCIPLINARY - Interdisciplinary research projects
- MU Faculty or unit
-
Faculty of Arts
- doc. Mgr. Aleš Chalupa, Ph.D.
- Mgr. Tomáš Glomb, Ph.D.
- Mgr. Tomáš Hampejs, Ph.D.
- Mgr. Vojtěch Kaše, Ph.D.
- PhDr. Dalibor Papoušek, Ph.D.
- Other MU Faculty/Unit
- Faculty of Science
- Other MU Faculty/Unit
- Faculty of Informatics
- Keywords
- ancient Mediterranean, Roman Empire, Isiac cults, Mithraism, early Christianities, mod-elling and simulation, mathematical modelling, network theory, dynamical systems, cog-nitive historiography, digital humanities, diffusion of innovations, cliodynamics,
This project systematically applies selected methods of formalized modeling and com-putational simulations to the study of the diffusion dynamics of religious ideas and forms of behavior. As such, the project strives to integrate a specific methodological framework into the academic study of religion. On the one hand, this framework may open up new avenues in the systematic study of specific instances of historical change, on the other, it may contribute to the study of more general questions related to the factors which influence the dynamics of cultural systems.
This project is centred around four case studies which focus on selected religious tradi-tions of the ancient Mediterranean (Isiac cults, Mithraism, Hellenistic Judaism and early Christianities), which can be, despite their historical specificity, viewed through the same theoretical-methodological optics, i.e. through the processes of (1) the dissemina-tion of religious ideas and forms of behaviour at the population level, (2), taking place over long periods of time, (3) being studied on the basis of fragmentary sources, (4) being viewed from the theoretical concept of the diffusion of innovations, (5) and being subjected to the influence of specific environmental, social and cognitive factors. These four case studies were selected on the basis of their similarity as well as their complementary specificities. In this sense, the project aims at the foundation of a “methodological laboratory” whose probes might facilitate the work of other researchers, as it com-bines historiography with methods of formalized modelling.
Within the study of historical processes formalized modelling is conceptualised as an innovative third way through which the limitations of the traditional inductive analysis of historical sources and deductive application of social-scientific and cognitive theories to social and historical phenomena can be overcome. Computational modelling can be viewed as a form of theoretical experimen
Publications
Total number of publications: 49
2016
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The MITHORIG project: Challenges and future prospects
Year: 2016, type: Appeared in Conference without Proceedings
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The Origins of Mithraism Origins of Mithraism in the Light of a Network Analysis of Mithraic Archaeological Evidence
Year: 2016, type: Appeared in Conference without Proceedings
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Trade Network of Ancient Mediterranean and Christianity
Year: 2016, type: Appeared in Conference without Proceedings
2015
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Bridging the Gaps with GEHIR
Year: 2015, type: Appeared in Conference without Proceedings
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Connecting the Dots between Past and Present with Complex Systems Science: Towards Generative Explanations of Religions?
Year: 2015, type: Appeared in Conference without Proceedings
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Directions for the Gods: Key Factors Influencing the Early Spread of the Isiac Cults
Year: 2015, type: Appeared in Conference without Proceedings
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Discrete Diffusion Equations: An Abstract Model of Spreading of Anything
Year: 2015, type: Appeared in Conference without Proceedings
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Discrete reaction-diffusion equation: An application
Year: 2015, type: Appeared in Conference without Proceedings
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Exporting Grain and Gods: The Spread of the Cult of Isis and Sarapis on the Ancient Mediterranean Trade Network
Year: 2015, type: Appeared in Conference without Proceedings
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GIS in Historical Research
Year: 2015, type: Appeared in Conference without Proceedings