“The Francophone Mobility Chair is an open door on the global Francophonie and promotes connections and exchanges between researchers from all walks of life,” said Martine Lagacé, associate vice-president, research promotion and development, at the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation, University of Ottawa. “Each guest chairholder brings a new perspective and an opportunity to enrich our knowledge, thanks to a shared love of the French language.”
Recognized as leading experts in their respective fields, these chairholders will be on campus for a few months to hold workshops, give lectures, and collaborate in research and knowledge mobilization on the Francophonie.
André Magord
Professor of North-American civilization and member of the MIMMOC laboratory (memory, identity and marginality in the modern western world) at the University of Poitiers, France
André Magord’s principal areas of research are: North America – Francophone and Indigenous minorities, multiculturalism, factors influencing ethnolinguistic vitality as well as epistemology in the social sciences and humanities. This Francophone Mobility Chair will allow him to pursue a project on Francophone oral expression, a sound library of spoken literature fonds collected since 1930 in the rural areas of western central France, in Francophone Canada and in Louisiana. During his stay in the spring of 2024, Professor Magord will be a guest of Professor Lucie Hotte, of the Département de français.
Yann Raison du Cleuziou
Professor of political science, University of Bordeaux, France
As one of the most well-known sociologists of religion in France, Yann Raison du Cleuziou will use his stay during the spring of 2024 to pursue comparative research on the transition of Catholicism to minority status in France and Canada. He will be a guest of Professor E.-Martin Meunier, who holds the Research Chair on Québec, Canadian Francophonie and Cultural Changes, and will propose an enriching program that offers a different view on the social and political transformations underway in France.
Jean-Alain Goudiaby
Professor and researcher at Université Assane SECK de Ziguinchor, Senegal
As an expert in knowledge mobilization, Jean-Alain Goudiaby has for years been researching and analysing educational dynamics in Africa and the policies associated with them. He will conduct a research project that examines perspectives on research, and on introductory training on research as experienced in a Senegal-Canada partnership, in collaboration with Nathalie Mondain, a demographer, sociologist, researcher and professor at the University of Ottawa.
Michael Falser
Associate professor at the Technical University of Munich, Germany
Michael Falser is considered one of the most important researchers in a new discipline, namely the global history of architecture. As a guest of Professor Jonathan Paquette, who holds the International Francophonie Research Chair on Cultural Heritage Policies, Professor Falser will pursue comparative research on the tensions that underlie (post)colonial architecture and heritage buildings in Francophone and Germanophone locations, and will launch a new field of research on the globalization of the Francophonie and its architecture in universal expositions. He plans to be at the University in the fall of 2024.
Opêoluwa Blandine Agbaka
Tenured faculty member at the Institut National des Métiers d’art, d’Archéologie et de la Culture of the University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin, where she is director of the department of visual arts and heritage.
The Francophone Mobility Chair will allow Opêoluwa Blandine Agbaka to undertake a research project on heritage policies and their evolution in the Francophonie around the world. During her stay on campus, this professor hopes to adopt a cross-cultural perspective on Canada and Africa and highlight the issue of traditional cultures and practices used to conserve heritage in the Francophone world with the aim of creating a typology. She will be on campus during the spring of 2024, and will be hosted by Jonathan Paquette, who holds the International Francophonie Research Chair on Cultural Heritage Policies.
Somnoma Edouard Kaboré
Professor at Université Thomas Sankara, Burkina Faso
Thanks to this chair, Somnoma Edouard Kaboré will be able to undertake promising research on the development of project management projects in Africa. His research deals with the implementation and evaluation of international development projects in Africa, and specifically on their governance and success. He has been invited by Professor Lavagnon Ika, who specializes in project management at the Telfer School of Management of the University of Ottawa and whose research interests align with those of Professor Kaboré.
Nicolas Peyre
Nicolas Peyre is a teacher and researcher in communications and information science at the Institute in Space, Territories, Culture and Communications Law (IDETCOM), at Toulouse Capitole University, France.
His research will examine French soft diplomacy in Ottawa and Canada from a Francophone perspective and the global branding of France’s public museums within the Francophonie. He will be hosted by Professor Jonathan Paquette, who holds the International Francophonie Research Chair on Cultural Heritage Policies.