Historical Studies

The themes of the doctoral programme cover a chronological span that runs from the history of the late classical period to the contemporary age, with particular focus on political, cultural, economic, religious and institutional history. The programme also develops studies on the history of ideas, science, publishing, political thought, archival training and palaeography.
The principal objective of the doctoral trajectory is to provide PhD students with the tools for the advancement of the historian's craft in terms of methodology and in the correct analysis of the sources. Under their supervisors' guidance, doctoral students will need first of all to acquire historical sensibility and a solid knowledge of the nature and development of historical events; moreover, they will need to demonstrate their knowledge of the historical and historiographical debate in the appropriate context. Through specific tools (bibliography, archival sources, printed primary sources, etc) PhD students will be able to provide by the end of their third year a solid thesis, which will demonstrate their capacity for a critical and conscious interpretation of complex historical events.
The doctoral programme also aims to connect the students with the wider international research context, both by establishing contacts with universities and research centres abroad (many co-supervisory arrangements are in place), and by including in the postgraduate board historians based at the most prestigious international universities (in France, Germany, Britain, Japan, the US and Brazil).