Photo: Flinders Ranges. Credits: Romain Fathi
I was born and educated in France, and I grew up in the Yvelines département, west of Paris. As a kid, I spent a lot of time at my grand parents’ in Brittany, and to this day, I never miss out on an opportunity to return there - hence why some of the photos for this site are sights of this beautiful region, on the western part of France.
I am a graduate from Sciences Po, in Paris. As part of my undergraduate degree, I completed an exchange program in an Australian university. That’s when I first came upon Australia, nearly by chance, as nothing about me suggested that I might one day live Down Under. From France, it seemed a world way.
While studying in Australia, I bought a 4WD and toured the entire island. Crossed it as well. A very big island, a beautiful one too. I discovered its peoples, and fell in love with country. “From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback, well, I waltzed my Matilda all over” says the song.
When I returned to Paris in 2008, I decided to enrol in a double masters program, still at Sciences Po. One of these masters was a master by research in History, which provided a wonderful excuse to return to Australia on a couple of occasions as part of my research project. Several years later, the result of this project came out as a book that investigated the representations of the body - living and dead - in French and Australian war museums.
In 2015, I was awarded a jointly awarded PhD (The University of Queensland / Sciences Po), with the mention “Très honorable avec félicitations du jury”. Part of the PhD program was spent at Yale University. Professor Guillaume Piketty and Associate Professor Martin Crotty were my supervisors, and Professor Jay Winter was my advisor while at Yale. They were, and remain terrific mentors and I enjoyed every bit of the PhD journey.
I now live in Australia, where I hold the position of Senior Lecturer in History at the Australian National University, and remain an affiliated researcher at the Centre d’Histoire de Sciences Po, in Paris.
My work focuses on the transnational dimension of war and its aftermath, in both the Australian and European contexts. The First World War, war commemorations and Australian identity are my primary research interests. I also have an interest in the history of public health, the Red Cross movement and the treatment of human remains in conflicts.
I publish in French and in English, and I have taught at several universities including Sciences Po in France, Yale in the United States, the University of Queensland, Flinders University, and the Australian National University in Australia.
My latest sole-authored monograph, Our Corner of the Somme, was published with Cambridge University Press. I am currently investigating the handling of human remains during and after the First World War , with pioneering works on the Australian Graves Detachment and Services, and the Administration of the dead.
I am one of Resilient Humanitarianism’s (DP190101171) Chief Investigators, an Australian Research Council-funded project (2019-2024).
