Nick Brattoli is a PhD candidate in the Department of Romance Studies, Italian Section. He received his B.A. at Wesleyan University in the College of Social Studies and Italian Studies. His research focuses on the relationship between film and the Italian postwar modernization process as understood through the prism of “circulation” as theoretically articulated in biopolitics and philosophies of praxis.

Benjamin Beese is a PhD student studying modern European intellectual and cultural history. He researches the apparent possibility (or impossibility) of social change in 19th- and 20th-century Europe. His research interests include critical theory and the Frankfurt School, European socialist movements, and theories of modernity.

Thomas Gareau-Paquette is a PhD student specializing in American Politics. Before Cornell, he pursued a Master's degree in Political Science at McGill University, where his research focused on the attitudinal factors influencing preferences for economic redistribution and their impact on electoral behavior in Canada. He also holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science (Hons.) and certificate in Data Science for the Social Sciences from the Université de Montréal.

Boyang Liu is a PhD student in the Department of Government. His major field of study is Comparative Politics, with minor fields in American Politics and Methods. His research examines the sources of legitimacy and political support in non-democratic regimes, with a regional focus on Russia, Central Asia, and the broader post-Soviet region. His current research explores how the Russo-Ukrainian war has affected Russian citizens’ willingness to participate in political activities, including protests.

Greta Schenke is a fourth-year PhD student in Comparative Politics in the Department of Government. Her research examines the political economy of state-building, nationalism, and democratic representation, combining historical and contemporary perspectives.

Her dissertation investigates the political origins of state building in late nineteenth-century Prussia. It explores how international economic competition shaped labor-market and migration policies, asking why political elites pursued policies that imposed substantial economic costs.

Sinziana Stanciu is a PhD student in the History Department at Cornell. She is studying European intellectual and economic history of the 19th and early 20th century. Her latest research projects explore the history of oil in Romania as a space of European investment and the history of the idea of productivity. She is passionate about the big ideas and problems that have driven European growth in modern history. She is also interested in podcasting! Listen to Histories from McGraw.

Ayşegül Kılınç is a PhD student and Fulbright Fellow at Cornell University. Her research focuses on the intersection of climate policy, trade, and economics, with a particular emphasis on the effects of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. Beyond her academic work, she enjoys spending time in nature and crafting, and is passionate about sharing Turkish culture.

Kaori Quan is a PhD student in French History. Her research centers on the intellectual history of Revolutionary France, with a particular focus on Parisian insurrections and the ways in which the process of documenting them influenced the trajectory of both modern democracy and history-writing.

Filip Galic is a PhD candidate in architectural history whose research examines how architectural ideology shifted as transformations in the transnational political economy and conflicts reshaped the conditions of architectural practice between Europe and post-Ottoman Non-Aligned geographies during the long Cold War. His work follows architect-planner-pedagogues moving across uneven postcolonial relations to ask how architectural knowledge was produced, translated, and mobilized for reciprocal ideological projects under asymmetrical conditions.