The Secular on the move: Transnational Secularism in the Francophone World

Faculty Member Name: Amelie Barras
Faculty Member email: abarras@yorku.ca
Department/School: Department of Social Science
Project Title: The Secular on the move: Transnational Secularism in the Francophone World

Description of Research Project:

The “Secularism on the Move: Transnational Secularism in the Francophone World” project focuses on transnational secularism in the Francophone world. It includes media, legal and political analyses, but also interviews with Francophone immigrants to Canada. Our contention is that an increasing number of secular-defined politics and ideas circulate and inform discussions about secularism and facilitates 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 and Lebanon. The research project is co-led by Amélie Barras (Department of Social Science, York University) and Jennifer Selby (Associate Professor, Memorial University). The DARE student will report directly to Prof. Barras, but will work closely with both investigators. The two investigators will provide training to the student, including on the overall scope and content of the project, and on research related tasks.

Undergraduate Student Responsibilities:

The DARE student will be expected to assist the researchers with the legal component of the project. The successful student will conduct a thorough research on laws and legal debates between 2004 and 2024 related to the place of religion in contemporary societies in the 9 countries covered by the project (Canada, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Lebanon). The DARE student will also be asked to collect, organize and summarize scholarly articles in French and in English covering these legal debates. The student will be expected to be familiar with using library databases (including legal databases); analyse, synthesise, and organise relevant information; and write summaries of relevant scholarly sources. The student will be required to participate to monthly zoom meetings with the wider research team, which will include presenting the progress of their research.

Qualifications Required:

The applicant should possess impeccable research skills (e.g., be familiar with research databases and library and internet research), writing and organizational skills. They should also have strong analytical and critical thinking skills, possess good time management skills and communication skills to regularly communicate with the project supervisor and other members of the research team. The applicant should have an interest in questions related to the governance of diversity in Canadian society, and in particular in how law shapes the place of religion in societies. The candidate must possess impeccable writing, reading and oral skills in French and English.

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