Polymathy and Interdisciplinarity in Premodern Islamic Epistemic Cultures (1200–1800 CE)
Welcome to our website.
Our aim is to write a history of knowledge in premodern Islamic cultures, viewed through the lens of interdisciplinarity and polymathy. Our approach is based on the premise that knowledge is a dynamic process involving interactions between different epistemologies, and that scholarly disciplines are composite and historically contingent. The main objectives of the project are outlined on our about page. Our team seeks to understand how efforts to integrate knowledge shaped the epistemic cultures of the time.
We encourage you to check out our kunnāsh, the collective research journal, structured as a series of essays relevant to the project.
The project’s logo, designed by the Egyptian designer Ahmad Soliman, draws on the figure of the hudhud (hoopoe bird), which appears in the Qur’anic narrative as a seeker of knowledge who ventures beyond familiar boundaries and returns with insight. The bird discovers distant communities, unfamiliar forms of worship, and hidden truths. Its journey is marked by curiosity, risk, and the courage to move beyond familiar forms of knowledge. Read more about the logo and typeface here.
Polymathy and Problem-Solving in the History of Islamic Knowledge, International Workshop, 2-4 June 2026, Ghent University
Registration and Programme
The KNOW research project has been generously funded by a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council. Further support has come from a starting grant from the Ghent Special Research Fund.
