Stefano Cattelan

In January 2022 Stefano Cattelan joined the CORE research group as a Postdoctoral Researcher. His project “In the Shadow of the Great Powers: Freedom of the Sea and Neutrality in the 18th Century” is financed by a Carlsberg Foundation Internationalisation Fellowship (2022-2023).

Stefano Cattelan studied Law at the University of Trento (5-year Master’s Degree), graduating in 2017 Cum Laude. Between 2017 and 2020, he prepared a doctoral dissertation at Aarhus University (Department of Law), entitled "Mare Clausum in Legal Argumentation: Claiming the Seas in the Early Modern Age". In Aarhus, he also taught in the Master-level course “International Law” for three consecutive years. Between November 2020 and May 2021, Stefano worked as a Research Assistant at Aalborg University (Department of Law). Since January 2020, Stefano has been active as a blogger for the European Society for Comparative Legal History (ESCLH).

So far, Stefano has centred his research on the historical development of international law in the Early Modern Age, focusing on law of the sea issues and maritime interactions between seafaring nations. He investigates state practice and doctrine jointly. Furthermore, he is keen on contemporary law of the sea and ocean policy issues, and he took part in the 2021 Rhodes Academy for Oceans Law and Policy. More broadly, Stefano’s primary interests lie at the crossroads of history, public international law, and politics, having as a fil rouge the complex relationship between men and pelagic spaces.

Since 22 August 2023, Stefano is also an adjunct professor at the Brussels School of Governance, where he teaches the Bachelor course History and Theory of International Law. More information here.

Publications

See Stefano's profile page on PURE.

Contact: stefano dot cattelan at vub dot be
Office B 4.13