معرفی
Pieter Francois is Professor of Cultural Evolution at the University of Oxford and a Tutorial Fellow in Human Sciences at Regent’s Park College. He serves as Academic Lead on Data Science and AI for the Arts and Humanities at the Alan Turing Institute and is the Founding Director of the Seshat Global History Databank project.
His research integrates cultural evolution, quantitative world history, and digital humanities to explore societal cohesion, resilience, and the evolution of social complexity. Key interests include the roles of warfare, ritual, and religious tolerance in historical trajectories, alongside infrastructure development for large-scale scholarly collaboration in arts and humanities. He actively bridges humanities, social sciences, and data science to foster interdisciplinary consilience.
Professor Francois leads major initiatives including the Seshat Global History Databank (Executive Director), Data/Culture project (Principal Investigator), and Freedom of Religion or Belief Leadership Network (PI). His work at the Alan Turing Institute’s Defence & Security Grand Challenge applies historical insights to contemporary policy challenges.
He founded the Seshat Global History Databank in 2011 with Peter Turchin and Harvey Whitehouse, creating a collaborative framework for global historical data. His Data/Culture project builds sustainable communities around humanities datasets, while the FoRBLeadership Network examines religious tolerance intersections with Sustainable Development Goals.
