How did the EUI shape your career?
The EUI has a special way of shaping its students because the lines between the disciplines of history, political science, economics, and law are fluid. So, I had an interdisciplinary experience, which really impacted my thinking and my understanding of international organisations and the whole system of international relations. This shaped my understanding of how to translate those big academic ideas into policy formulations or into public rhetoric that would be accessible to people outside the academic world.
What was one of the questions your EUI research was trying to answer?
My EUI research was trying to understand what happens inside international organizations when they're facing a crisis, and how does that affect international relations. And, in many ways, that was a broad question that has shaped my career and my engagement with these ideas about international history in the United Nations. So, it's something that I answered in part through my thesis and has definitely formed the rest of my career.
What are three things you can say about your experience at the EUI?
My EUI experience was fundamentally life-changing in all kinds of ways. If I had done a PhD in a different place, it would have been an entirely different career than the one I have now. And that's because of a couple of different things about the EUI.
Firstly, it's very closely knit, so you feel supported, but you also feel that you learn from your colleagues and from your social environment. Not just about your topic, but about all kinds of topics. You are getting a very broad base of education.
Secondly, I think it's so international here. It's not just about the international exchanges inside the classroom; it goes way beyond that. And that really propelled me towards pursuing an international career, because now I have built my career in the Netherlands, whereas I'm actually from Ireland. So that has been a very valuable experience.
Thirdly, it's a professional community, so you learn the norms, practices, and procedures of professional academic interactions and how to deal with challenges both collectively as a community, but also individually as a scholar. And that has been fundamental in preparing me for an academic career, which I certainly didn't believe that I would have when I started the PhD in 2007.
How has your life changed?
Beyond the cloister of Badia Fiesolana, life in a bigger university is quite different in terms of teaching and responsibility. For me, the EUI experience represented the best part of academia which is about working, thinking deeply, and trying to be more abstract with your analysis and learning from colleagues. It's not the same afterwards because you don't have the same time, even if you have the same great colleagues.
So, my life has changed because I worked as a first assistant professor, now as an associate professor and in a few weeks, I will be a professor. There are many different responsibilities such as administrative, teaching, student welfare, and supervision. But it's just different types of challenges.
I feel lucky for every chance I get to come back to the EUI and get a flavor of life here again. The institute made me understand that deep thinking is the responsibility of an academic and it's a privilege to be able to do it.
What part of the EUI still lives with you today?
I think it is the freedom of expression and creativity and the sense of possibility that I had as a researcher here. The notion that I can shape my own horizon and future. Up to that point I hadn't understood as an academic that you have agency and choices not just in what you want to study, but in how you want to do it and where you want to go. And that kind of feeling of empowerment has absolutely been fundamental to shaping my career.
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The EUI Alumni Testimonials series offers a glimpse into the diverse paths and experiences of our alumni. Through their stories, we revisit meaningful moments from their time at the EUI and discover how these experiences continue to shape their personal and professional journeys.
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Disclaimer: All information reported in this article reflects solely the perspective of EUI alumni and former EUI members. In no case does this article represent the view of the organisations the interviewees are affiliated with.