Following a master’s thesis entitled “Le comte derrière l’inquisiteur : procès de sorcellerie à la lumière des comptes seigneuriaux”, which explored the links between feudal administration and witchcraft court proceedings, Olivier Silberstein is an assistant at the Institute of History at the University of Neuchâtel from 2016 to 2022. He develops courses which focus on his research into heresy in the Middle Ages as well as plots, crimes, conspiracies, the perception of otherness during the Crusades, and the way in which the Middle Ages are reinterpreted through cinema and television. From February 2020 to August 2021, he works as a visiting researcher at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) where he furthers his work on the history of witchcraft and the judicial devices surrounding it.
Since 2023, he teaches at the University of Neuchâtel and the University of Geneva. His courses cover the history of witchcraft and justice, representations of the past in contemporary cultural productions, and historical methods. He also teaches a research seminar for Master’s students, organized as part of the Festival Histoire et Cité, whose theme is adapted each year to the festival’s chosen topic.
He directs the Images du patrimoine project, which aims to raise awareness over Neuchâtel’s history and archaeology through objects from museum collections. It highlights material sources and their role in the construction of historical knowledge.
His thesis, entitled La fabrique de la sorcière : analyse des procès du comté de Neuchâtel à la lumière des confessions forcées (XVe-XVIIe siècle), examines the judicial and discursive construction of the figure of the witch through the study of confessions obtained under duress. Drawing on trial archives, it sheds light on the dynamics of persuasion and coercion that constructed the imaginary of witchcraft and structured repression over the long term.
Alongside these activities, he has been working as a coordinator of the Sinergia ‘Capturing the Present‘ project since February 2025 and has taken over the role of webmaster for the project’s Hypotheses website in August of the same year.