Daniele Curci

I am a research fellow in the Department of Political and International Sciences at the University of Siena (supervisor Prof. Matteo Gerlini). In March 2025, I obtained my PhD, with the additional Doctor Europaeus certification, from the Universities of Florence and Siena, specializing in U.S. history and international relations. My doctoral dissertation focused on Woody Guthrie as a case study: I analyzed the interplay between folk music, imagined communities, and political radicalism. At the same time, I examined Guthrie’s production of propaganda and its use within U.S. political discourse, as well as how his art can be understood as a form of cultural diplomacy. My supervisors were Massimiliano Guderzo (University of Siena) and Alberto Mario Banti (University of Pisa); the reviewers were Mario Del Pero (SciencesPo, Paris) and Lorenzo Costaguta (University of Bristol); the discussants were Bruna Bagnato (University of Florence) and Tristan Mattelart (Panthéon-Assas University, Paris).

From September 2023 to December 2023, I held a visiting position at the Centre d’analyse et de recherche interdisciplinare sur les médias (Panthéon-Assas Université).
From September 2022 to January 2023, I held a visiting position at the Collège de France and at the Université Paris Est-Créteil (research center IMAGER, working group CIMMA). During the stay, I attended several seminars at L’Institut de recherche stratégique de l’École militaire (IRSEM) and at the Centre d’études nord-américaines (EHESS). In Paris, I was a resident at the Fondation des Etats-Unis in the Cité internationale universitaire and then at the Maison du Cambodge.

I have been working since 2014 as a freelance journalist in Italy, with many publications for national media, including Fondazione Feltrinelli, Tag43, and Treccani. I’m also an analyst in international relations (I have worked for Aspenia and Formiche). My areas of research include: police and army affairs (USA, France, Italy); international relations; history of the Cold War; and American cultural history. I have several academic publications and have participated in several conferences.