Supervision is an exciting journey for students and the supervisor as well. PhD students come with a baggage full of ideas, of themes they wish to explore, and stories they want to tell. Sometimes they want to write the book. I tailor supervision to their individual aims and needs; I do my best to channel their passion, to turn their ideas into feasible projects, to find the appropriate balance between enthusiasm and discipline, creativity and rigorousness. I often act as facilitator. It is my duty to allow PhD candidates to find their own way of writing history, to go beyond labels and petty parochialism, to make their voices heard in the texts they write. I encourage students to take ownership of their projects. I want them to take on responsibility for their projects from the outset since I believe this helps them to persevere and eventually overcome all difficulties intrinsic to any PhD journey. I invite students to be creative and original. History is craftsmanship, and each of us shapes the object of her/his analysis in a unique way. 

Students I had and still have the privilege to supervise work on very different subjects. Thorough conversations with me determine the thematic, spatial and temporal boundaries of their research as well as the protagonists of their stories. This explains why some students (see the two columns below) work on subjects related to my fields of specialisation whilst others work on topics such as the history of rap in France, of meat in Tel Aviv and Jaffa, or the history of US domestic and foreign empire. 

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Some of the students I supervised pursued academic careers as post-docs or lecturers; others started different professional careers as consultants in the public sector or for private companies. History can bring you everywhere you wish to go.

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I started supervising PhD projects in 2008. I have been second reader of research projects on the history of Enlightenment; the Christian roots of the European Union; Allied bombing during the Second World War; American Women and International Geneva; Violations of human rights in Brazil; US politics and human rights policies in the Southern Cone during President Carter Presidency; Telegraphy, News and Financial Markets during the 19th century; Anglo-American Relations and NATO; Ceausescu's diplomacy in the Middle East; The Myth of Legalism in U.S. Foreign Relations, 1895-1948; Dissident Historians' Underground Accounts of the Soviet Past (1956-1985); The League of Nations and the protection of refugees; the Transformation of Water Markets in Chile since the 1970s; Italian relations with China since 1945.

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At the Graduate Institute, I have been second reader of theses in International Relations/Political Sciences; Anthropology and Sociology. I served as external expert at the Universities of Geneva, Lausanne, EUI-Florence, Oxford, Manchester, and EHESS-Paris. Below, a list of ongoing projects I have the pleasure to supervise and a lists of defended theses. I am very proud of each of these ex-students and of their projects.