In September 2018 the Graduate Institute in partnership with the Pierre du Bois Foundation inaugurated a new position titled Pierre du Bois Chair Europe and the World. The new position is an illustration of the commitment the Pierre du Bois Foundation has to the advancement of historical research and teaching at the Graduate Institute.
The current holder of the Chair is Professor Stella Ghervas. Her inaugural lecture “Europe’s Histories: The View from Geneva” will take place on 29 September 2026, 18:30-20:00, at the Auditorium Ivan Pictet, Maison de la paix, Geneva.
No single vantage point can tell us the whole history of Europe. So, what does it look like, seen from Geneva? Drawing on her intellectual journey from the East to the West of the continent, Stella Ghervas uses Geneva and its role as the international “Peace City” to explore the ever-changing ways in which Europe has been imagined, framed, and reshaped over time—and how those perspectives can illuminate our present understanding of its place in the world.
The lecture opens the 2026–2027 series of Pierre du Bois Public Lectures, which continues with Anthony Pagden (UCLA) on 20 October and David Armitage (Harvard) on 9 December. Admission is free. Registration is required via the Graduate Institute’s event page.
Professor Stella Ghervas
Stella Ghervas is a historian of Europe whose research focuses on intellectual and international history, with particular attention to peace and peacemaking, ideas in politics, diplomacy, and international (dis)order. Her work explores Europe’s engagement with the wider world, Russia and Eurasia, including maritime and oceanic history, and transnational political communities formed within and beyond empires. She has held teaching, research, and visiting positions on four continents, from Australia to the United Kingdom and Russia. She is also Professor and Eugen Weber Chair in Modern European History, University of California, Los Angeles