Qualitative Studies
Our research study on transnational secularism in the Francophone
world includes media, legal and political analyses, and also qualitative
interviews in Quebec and Ontario, Canada.
Our contention is that an increasing number of secular-defined politics and
ideas circulate and inform discussions about laïcité and facilitate the
migration of certain groups of people in Canadian Francophone spaces. The
SOM project thus quantifies and theorizes the circulation of secular peoples
and ideas to Canada, with a special focus on Québec, and their movement to
and from France, Switzerland, Belgium, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal,
and Lebanon.
In 2022-23
With support from the Secrétariat du Québec aux relations canadiennes and Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, Jennifer Selby and Amélie Barras conducted over 100 personal interviews with first-generation immigrants from France living in Montréal and Toronto.
In 2023-24
With support from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, we extended these interviews to include Francophones from other contexts in the Francophone world in Montréal and Toronto.
Selby and Barras are conducting qualitative interviews with directors and teachers in the international French lycée school system abroad.
Photo by Isaac Medina Alcazar, Getty Images
Interviews are being conducted in Montreal by M. Morad Bkhait, Youssef Benzouine & Cyrine Bouajila.
Photo by Getty Images
Interviews are being conducted in Toronto by Alanah Broomfield and Roshan Jahangeer.
This research is supervised by the Interdisciplinary Committee on Ethics in Human Research (ICEHR), and is in conformity with Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador’s ethics policies. If you have any concerns regarding research ethics (on the manner in which you have been treated or on your rights as a participant), you may contact the President of ICEHR at icehr@mun.ca or by telephone at (1-709-864-2861).
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Ethics approval has also been granted by the Office of Research Ethics at York University.
To Participate in these Studies
Please Contact Jennifer Selby.
Podcast Project
With journalism students from Concordia University, Jennifer Selby and Amélie Barras are developing two podcasts in French and in English. In these podcasts, French immigrants, interviewed by Selby and Barras, share their experiences of migrating to Canada, and the importance that secularism and religion play in their lives.
The podcasts are scheduled for release in autumn 2024.