We are seeking applicants for a pathbreaking PhD Preparatory Program (PPP), which brings together a small number of selected socially motivated students (the final number of successful candidates, 8 to 12, will depend on the quality of applicants) for a year of academic exchange in order to prepare the most successful research proposals for applications to international PhD programs worldwide.

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This joint program, offered with the University of Turin, which covers through a Rector’s grant part of the program’s costs, builds on 15 years of experience as a master degree in comparative law, economics, and finance at the International University College of Turin (IUC, with some eighty students admitted with a full grant to international PhDs). It provides a unique opportunity to benefit from the mentorship of high-profile academics and leading social theories from the perspective of law, economics, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and finance.

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The program is organized according to a yearly theme of timely political relevance which aims at shedding light upon the predicaments of present-day capitalism. Not only critique but also experimentation of alternatives will allow students to experience the full meaning of engaged academic vocation. Accordingly, students will be involved at once in theoretical exploration and activities of civic engagement in one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse neighborhoods of Turin. This program seeks to revive the philosophy of knowledge pioneered by Antonio Gramsci in this city a century ago: the concept of praxis whereby there can be no theoretical thought without action or game-changing action without novel thought.

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The structure of the program revolves around weekly seminars where students and faculty participate in horizontal discussion and critique of foundational scholarly works. Meanwhile, students are expected to share their knowledge and experience with the local community through public lectures or other forms of cultural exchange. Can constitutional liberalism survive the global corporate takeover? Is it possible to imagine a long-term future for mankind outside of capitalism as the pervasive form of single thought? Can legal and political imperialism be resisted and how? What can the commons offer as alternative forms of production and distribution? With full awareness of how reality is shaped by technology, students are offered an exciting journey at the frontiers of social transformation. Thinking outside the western box, they will be empowered to deal with present social and institutional challenges in historically and comparatively informed ways.

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Applicants should hold degrees allowing participation in a Ph.D. (MA, MS, LLM, JD) and should have command of English and of a second language. Anyone yet to be awarded the required academic qualification, but who will have received it by and no later than November 30, 2023, may also apply to participate in the selection process. Successful applications must include a motivational essay and a CV, and provide relevant academic transcripts and two recommendation letters. Title of preference is previous action as an activist or social organizer. The program is offered on a solidarity basis. There are no fees and there is limited financial aid for those deserving it. Students are expected to reciprocate in the future through gifts to the college if and when they are in the condition to do so.

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At the end of the program, students will be awarded a Master of Science (M.Sc.) research degree in Comparative Law, Economics, and Finance.