Andrea Francioni, PhD in African History, is an Associate Professor of History of International Relations (academic discipline SPS/06). He has obtained the National Scientific Qualification as a Full Professor. He has spent periods of study in various locations, including London (The National Archives, School of Oriental and African Studies), Paris (Archives Diplomatiques du Ministère des Affaires Étrangères), Uppsala (Nordiska Afrikainstitutet), Falun (Dalarna University Centre for African Studies), Geneva (Stefano Toscani Private Archive), Belfast (The McClay Library – Queen’s University), Bristol (Chinese Maritime Customs Project – University of Bristol), Beijing (Beijing Foreign Studies University), Mexico City (El Colegio de México), and Tomsk (Tomsk State University). His research has primarily focused on the diplomacy of imperialism. He is the Director of the Interuniversity Research Center ASAFAL – Center for Comparative Area Studies: Asia, Africa, Latin America (University of Siena, University of Messina, University for Foreigners of Perugia). He is the Erasmus for studies coordinator for Dalarna University, Falun – African Studies. He coordinates the academic cooperation agreements between the University of Siena and El Colegio de México, and between the University of Siena and Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (Suzhou). He is a member of the scientific board of "Africana – Journal of Extra-European Studies," a "Class A" journal for the academic discipline 14/B2 (History of International Relations of Extra-European Societies and Institutions), and of the editorial boards of the "Rivista di studi politici internazionali" and "Storia e Futuro – Online Journal of History and Historiography." He is a member of the Association for Asian Studies and the Italian Society for International History.