Anestis defended the thesis A Computational Assessment of McNeill and Stark on Christian Expansion during the Antonine Plague and the Plague of Cyprian, and completed the doctoral exam. The defense took place on June 29 2026.
Congratulations to Anestis. We attach the abstract of the thesis and a link where you can read it.
This dissertation theoretically tests the McNeill–Stark hypothesis on the pivotal role of pandemics in the rise of Christianity, employing computational modeling. A dual-methodological framework disaggregates this hypothesis into two distinct claims: a demographic assertion of higher survival rates (Thesis 1, T1) and a sociological one of superior Christian social network resilience (Thesis 2, T2). System dynamics models are utilized to test Thesis 1, while social network analysis is applied to test Thesis 2. The results indicate that the demographic advantage (T1) alone is quantitatively insufficient to account for the religion’s historical growth. However, the models provide robust support for the sociological claim (T2), demonstrating that Christian social networks could have been uniquely resilient to epidemic shocks. This research concludes that the pandemics’ primary influence was sociological, rather than purely demographic, creating a crisis of social connection that the stable Christian community was positioned to fill. This work refines the McNeill–Stark hypothesis and showcases the utility of modeling for historical inquiry.
On June 9 2026, Katia Riccardo defended the thesis A computational analysis of inquisitorial language and relationship networks in the inquisition register of Bologna (1291-1310) and passed the State exam successfully.
A new study by Sebastian Kheml, Tomáš Glomb, and Aleš Chalupa published in Open Archaeology focuses on the previously unexplored relationship between healing cults dedicated to the gods Asclepius and Apollo, and the risk of malaria in present-day Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia.
