Olivier Keller
I am a historian and visiting PhD candidate from the University of Zurich. My geographical area of interest are the Americas, and especially Mexico and the USA. During my stay at the LAC, I hope to actively participate in the Centre’s activities and to advance my PhD project.
In my dissertation project Setting the Course for Cooperation and Connection. The United States Railway Mission to Mexico (1942-1946) I explore a crucial moment in the shared history of Mexico and the USA, their diplomatic and economic rapprochement during World War II. I will do so through looking at the first extensive cooperation project between the unequal neighbors, which had the aim of rehabilitating the Mexican railroads. In that period, the railroads were the bottleneck of any exchange between Mexico and the USA and therefore crucial in expanding such exchange of people, goods, capital, and ideas that would transform both countries. To fully grasp the dimensions of my object of study, I want to adopt and combine methodological approaches from infrastructure history, diplomatic history, environmental history, or the history of capitalism.
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