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.

My main research interests have to do with the history of religion in modern and contemporary China. I have worked mainly on popular groups, having conducted field research in China, Taiwan and North America. The development of the religious fact in China since the latter 19^th century is extremely complex, and we cannot study popular religion without considering the aims of the Chinese government and the posture of institutionalized religions. Given the religious rebirth in China since the end of the Maoist era, even historical research on this subject is important from a contemporary point of view.

With colleagues from York University and UBC, I have also launched a new research program on contemporary intellectual life in China. The project explores the complex relations between the growing freedom of expression for intellectuals, the cultural search for an identity that will be both modern and Chinese, and the pressing need for Chinese political authorities to find a new ideological legitimacy. This program is now funded through an SSHRC Insight grant.

My research themes are as follows:

1. Intra-continental migrations (North America) and the immigration of Italians to Quebec
2. The history of cultural policies from a comparative perspective (United States/Canada/Europe)
3. The history of key concepts and their uses in the social sciences and government policies (assimilation; integration; incorporation; multiculturalism; inter-culturalism; transculturalism; diversity)
4. Cinematic narrations of the past (documentaries and feature films)

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.