Ian Coller

Ian Coller is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Archaeology at La Trobe University, Australia. He joined the department in 2011 after extensive undergraduate teaching at the University of Melbourne and was appointed Maitre de Conferences Invite at the University of Paris 8 in 2013. His current research focuses on an ARC-funded project examining 'Europe, Islam and Modernity: The French Revolution and the Muslim World 1789-1799.'

Education

• BA(Hons), University of Melbourne
• PhD, University of Melbourne

Coller's research centers on the historical intersections of Islamic and European societies during the revolutionary era. His work explores Muslim communities in revolutionary France, trans-Mediterranean cultural exchanges, and the construction of modernity through colonial encounters. He examines how revolutionary ideals of citizenship and universalism engaged with Islamic legal traditions and racial hierarchies, challenging Eurocentric narratives of modernity. His scholarship bridges French Revolutionary studies with Islamic history through transnational and comparative methodologies.

Analysis of his 15 most recent publications (2018-2024) reveals consistent thematic focus on the French Revolution's global entanglements with the Muslim world. Key trends include examinations of revolutionary hospitality toward Muslim foreigners, policing of religious minorities under the Directory, and the transmission of Enlightenment ideas across Mediterranean borders. His work demonstrates increasing interdisciplinary engagement with legal history, race studies, and postcolonial theory while maintaining rigorous archival foundations in French and North African sources.

Grants and Research Leadership

• Australian Research Council (ARC) project: 'Europe, Islam and Modernity: The French Revolution and the Muslim World 1789-1799'
• Author of monograph 'Arab France: Islam and the Making of Modern Europe 1798-1831' (University of California Press, 2010)
• Principal investigator for 'Muslims and Citizens: Islam, Politics, and the French Revolution' (Yale University Press, 2020)