The purpose of the present design is to develop an approach to History which will be broad enough to permit an understanding of the world as it is today and, in particular, of what determines its perennial traits, as well as the changes and the ruptures to which society is constantly exposed. That understanding is not possible without an historical education. This essentially macro vision by no means denies the micro dimension of many of the research topics to which students may be drawn or which teachers in the programme wish to pursue. It considers, however, that narrower lines of analysis ought to be complemented always by an effort to contextualize them and to set them in the appropriate comparative perspective. It also regards as a necessity a high degree of openness to the possibilities offered by different theoretical and methodological streams within History, in order to achieve a truly comprehensive interpretation of historical phenomena.

One of the strong points of PIUDHist is its goal of creating an active community of students, teachers and researchers, who will thus come to benefit from the reciprocal impact on each other of their respective research undertakings. In fact, a doctoral programme such as this can only make proper sense insofar as it is capable of binding together the efforts of individuals into a structured, wider ensemble.