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 with our student qualitative team to include Francophones from other contexts in the Francophone world in Montréal and Toronto.
In 2024-25
Selby and Barras are currently conducting qualitative interviews with directors and teachers in the international French lycée school system abroad. Please find more information here.
This research is supervised by the Interdisciplinary Committee on Ethics in Human Research (ICEHR), and is in conformity with MUNL and York University’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 ICEHR at icehr@mun.ca or by telephone at (1-709-864-2861).
To Participate in these Studies
Please contact Jennifer Selby.
The French on the Move Podcast
The two episodes of The French on the Move podcast, co-written and developed by Jennifer Selby and Amélie Barras, are now available.
Our podcast trailer is available here.
​Two first episodes (also translated in French):
1. French Citizens and Secularism Beyond the Republic (also in French)
2. French Citizens and Religiosity on the Other Side of the Atlantic (also in French)
​
In our first episode, French Citizens and Secularism Beyond the Republic, our Montreal- and Toronto-based participants share their views on secularism and their experiences related to how the province in which they live (whether Québec or Ontario) manages issues of religious diversity. Questions surrounding secularism are particularly important for our participants in the province of Québec, which introduced legislation curtailing religious signs in 2019. Professors Dia Dabby and Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme offer their expertise.
In our second episode, French Citizens and Religiosity on the Other Side of the Atlantic, our participants describe their religiosity, spirituality and non-religiosity in the midst of their migration. They share whether their experiences with these matters have influenced their settlement in Canada, including their choice to move to Montreal or Toronto, and their lives more generally on this side of the Atlantic. Professor Géraldine Mossière helps to explain what we heard.