He is graduate of l’Université Sorbonne Paris-IV and l’École des hautes études en sciences sociales. A specialist of colonial Canadian and early American history, he received his PhD from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). Julien is the editor of a special issue with the Bulletin d’histoire politique titled “Patriotisme et économie durant les Rébellions de 1837-1838” and is currently preparing an edited collection, with Maxime Dagenais, on the United States and the Canadian Rebellion.