Polymathy and Interdisciplinarity in Premodern Islamic Epistemic Cultures

Introduction

KNOW is the first comprehensive study of polymathy and interdisciplinarity in premodern Islam. The project sets out to write a history of knowledge that takes the interaction between disciplines as its primary subject.

Historical Framework

The project’s historical framework is the post-formative period, 1200-1800 CE, which saw the rise of new institutions of learning, the proliferation of libraries, the formation and integration of disciplines and curricular texts, and an increase in academic travel. This environment facilitated interdisciplinary cooperation, competition, and conflict.

Despite its significance, our knowledge of this period remains rudimentary. The project promises to transform our understanding of the intellectual dynamics of this period by applying the lens of polymathy and interdisciplinarity.

Previous Scholarship

Previous scholarship has focused on intellectual products (i.e., doctrines and texts) and has tended to project our contemporary disciplinary divisions onto the premodern period (e.g., humanities vs. sciences; religious vs. secular).

This project departs from these approaches by focusing on epistemic processes and practices rather than products and artifacts.

Research Hypotheses

To do so, the project tests three research hypotheses:

1. Cultural and intellectual vibrancy of the premodern period is evident in the interaction between disciplines.
2. Madrasa education and hospital culture produced an interdisciplinary space.
3. Interdisciplinary practices created a common scholarly language.

Methodology and Team

The project’s interdisciplinary methodology draws on the history of science, interdisciplinary studies, and polymathy studies.

The Principal Investigator (PI) will be supported by an interdisciplinary team of three postdoctoral researchers covering, together, the intersections between:

• Philology
• Theology
• Exegesis
• Law
• Medicine
• Logic
• Algebra
• Geometry

These intersections are crucial in understanding premodern Islamic epistemic cultures.

Contributions

KNOW will make significant contributions to interdisciplinarity and polymathy studies, as well as the emergent field of the history of knowledge.