My research concerns the comparative history of identity construction in 16^th-18^th century Europe and the Americas, with a number of complementary aspects: the vision of the Other and the question of self (episteme and mentalities; objectives and methods of persuasion); the role of the two sexes in the individual and collective construction of identity; historical evidence and the memory of self. With regard to this first theme, I published Croire et faire croire. Les missions françaises au 17^e siècle(Paris, Fayard, 2003), showing the far-reaching connections between the perception of otherness and the representations of modern identity in the context of the first globalization, i.e. missionary imperialism, at a time when France was undergoing true domestic colonization. A second theme developed from this research, and allowed me to embark on two parallel publications: the first, Les autobiographies spirituelles et l'émergence du sujet moderne, is aimed at understanding how men and women in France and its colonies learned to see themselves as acting subjects. The second publication, the third of my research themes, is entitled Memoire de soi, mémoire des autres, and compares the annals of various religious congregations in France and New France to determine the traces that small communities wished to leave for posterity, sometimes at the cost of a certain distortion of the historical record. On the basis of this work, I was invited to edit a scientific history of the Sulpicians of Canada in which the chapters I wrote concern the duty of memory, identity markers, and relations between others and the Sulpicians, who were key figures in Montreal history (D. Deslandres, John A. Dickinson and Ollivier Hubert, eds. Les Sulpiciens de Montréal. Une histoire de pouvoir et de discrétion (Montreal, Fides, 2007). Along the same lines, I co-edited, with Raymond Brodeur and Thérèse Nadeau-Lacour, Lecture inédite de la modernité aux origines de la Nouvelle France. Marie Guyart de l'Incarnation et les autres fondateurs religieux (Quebec City, Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 2010) to mark the 400^th anniversary of Quebec City. I am currently writing a biography of Marie Guyart de l'Incarnation, founder of the very first school for women in America, while continuing my work on the roles of the sexes, religion and politics in the history of modern-day French expansion.

I am interested in the people who lived in the St. Lawrence Valley in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, particularly under the British Regime. I want to determine the rules by which they lived, the images that shaped the way they perceived the world, and the power structures they created or suffered under. This curiosity has made me a historian of pre-industrial Quebec society. I began by studying how religious precepts legitimized certain conceptions of order. In the past few years, using documents left by other institutions, tribunals and educational institutions, I have tried to understand how social identities were formed, negotiated and mobilized.

I have taught the international history of Canada and Quebec at Université de Montréal since 2011. My goal as a historian is to use cultural and social history, as well as postcolonial studies, to obtain and promote a deeper understanding of the history of Canada and Quebec in the world, and the way in which their international activities (governmental and non-governmental) have shaped and been shaped by the lived experiences of the peoples living in the northern portion of North America. I employ international history to explore Canada and Quebec as projects of rule, while situating them and their populations in global currents.

My first book, With Friends Like These: Entangled Nationalisms and the Canada-Québec-France Triangle, 1944-1970 (UBC Press, 2012), examines the complex triangular dynamic between Canada, Quebec and France by situating this in the broader currents of the history of globalization. It explores the concept of “nation” in an increasingly interconnected world, and parallel to this, the efforts to manage multiple overlapping identities. This monograph also is part of my ongoing effort to shed light on the question of “empire” in Canadian and Quebec history. These research interests also led to my co-editing a volume that offers and encourages a critical reinterpretation of Canadian international history through the prism of race Dominion of Race: Rethinking Canada’s International History (UBC Press, 2017). 

I also explore the history of settler colonialism in Canada and Quebec, as it is impossible to understand Canadian and Quebec international history without referring to the complex history of the relationships between Indigenous Peoples and settlers. This idea also underpins my current research project, an exploration of the entangled history of Canadian development assistance after 1945 and Indigenous-Canadian relations.

I teach Roman history, the so-called auxiliary sciences (epigraphy, numismatics and literature) and advanced Latin courses for the Centre d'études classiques (detached 50%) and the Department of History. My main field of research is the history of the Roman Empire, in particular the Late Empire period (192-565 AD). My research activities fall into three categories.

1. My main interest lies in the history of the administration and political system of the Roman Empire, especially the reorganization of its provinces in the Late Empire period.
2. A second focus of my research has to do with themes of cultural history and mentalities during the Late Empire. This is a direct outgrowth of my main interest, because I have often had to use literary sources in studying the administrative history of the Empire, and in such cases I have had to first understand the cultural background in order to grasp the opinions expressed regarding administrative changes. My interest in this research has particularly to do with Latin and Greek authors who expressed their opinions on politics, although they are not classified in the "historiography" category, such as the sermons by Church Fathers Ambrose of Milan and John Chrysostom, the panegyrics of Themistius, and epic poetry.
3. The third aspect is dedicated to the history of science in antiquity and the historiographical themes related to science, i.e. to famous figures of antiquity (Constantine the Great) or the writings of ancient authors (Livy and Ammianus Marcellinus).

My MA and PhD students have worked on the first two fields of research, but not exclusively. Regardless of the research topic, I consider a good knowledge of ancient languages (Latin and Greek), modern languages (English, German, Italian and Spanish, depending on the subject) and the so-called auxiliary sciences (literature, epigraphy and numismatics) to be key success factors for any kind of advanced research.

I publish, teach and supervise students at the Master's, PhD and post-doctorate levels in the field (or theme) of the history of international relations. I am interested primarily in France and the Arab world. I am a student and proponent of the "French School" of the history of international relations (HIR), which updated the study of the international phenomenon by including and integrating "deep forces" (economic, social, institutional, cultural, etc.) in the analysis. This approach generated a rich historiography whose originality transformed and reinvigorated the field of international history. This vitality is just as valuable today as it was yesterday in terms of questioning, investigating and discovering, as illustrated by the number of students doing their MA and PhD studies in HIR.

The issue that has intrigued me the most is the connections between the political and economic dimensions internationally. This question underpins many of my publications, in particular my work on Franco-Egyptian relations based on a doctorat d'État (I am among the last to have obtained this venerable diploma under the French university system, as it has now been replaced by the single dissertation). It led to a monograph, currently in printing, on the decolonization of French North Africa. In economic history, my interests focus on movements of capital, international trade and the history of businesses (banks, oil companies, electricity companies).

Since 2004 I have been a founding member and co-ordinator of the Groupement interuniversitaire pour l'histoire des relations internationales (GIHRIC). Along with research, I find teaching a real pleasure, as shown by the Award of Outstanding Achievement in Teaching I received early in my career from the Faculty of Arts and Science. The flame still burns brightly!