Dr. Jakub Sypiański
Historian and translator
Arab-Byzantine relations · Environmental history · Digital humanities
Research interests
My research focuses on scientific and intellectual exchanges between the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic world (7th–11th c.), particularly the transfer of knowledge across Greek, Syriac, and Arabic traditions. I am also interested in environmental history of the medieval Mediterranean.
In digital humanities, I build databases for historical research. At the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, I worked on JenaHEDE (Jena Historical Epidemics Database for Europe), designing the database structure, scraping data from plague catalogues, and geolocating toponyms. I also worked on the environmental history of Chalkidiki using the archives of Mount Athos monasteries: designing the database, geolocating data, and visualizing it in time and space.
Publications
Current position
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, SSE1K, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia
Degrees
MA, College of Europe, Natolin
Interdisciplinary European studies
MA, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University
History
BA, University of Warsaw (MISH)
Mediterranean culture
Engagement
Volunteer translator and coordinator with Grupa Granica, a grassroots humanitarian initiative providing aid to refugees and migrants at the Polish-Belarusian border.
Press: Amnesty International · Polityka · Helsinki Foundation