معرفی
Alex Spike Gibbs is an Assistant Professor of Economic History of the Middle Ages at the University of Mannheim, holding a Junior Professorship since January 2022. His research focuses on late medieval England, particularly the economic and social dynamics of labor remuneration during the Black Death era. He combines archival data with data science techniques to analyze how in-kind wages (e.g., grain) reflected living standards and economic shifts post-pandemic.
Education:
- B.A. History, University of Cambridge (2011–2014)
- M.A. Medieval History, King’s College London (2014–2015)
- Ph.D. (2019), Cambridge: 'Manorial Officeholding in Late Medieval and Early Modern England, 1300–1600'
Research: Gibbs uses data science to transform fragmented medieval records (tax lists, estate accounts) into structured datasets, enabling analysis of economic trends and social networks. His current project quantifies agricultural workers’ wages in kind to assess post-Black Death societal changes. Future work includes applying social network analysis to medieval court records.
Data Science Role: Emphasizes 'Empirically testing theories', leveraging cloud storage and AI tools like Transkribus for historical text transcription. Collaboration with econometric experts is central to his work.
Labs/Teams: Affiliated with the Mannheim Center for Data Science, fostering interdisciplinary research in medieval economic history.
