People

Mireille Paquet, PhD

Associate Professor, Political Science 

Concordia University Research Chair on the Politics of Immigration

Mireille Paquet is a political scientist and an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University, where she holds the University Research Chair in Immigration Policies. As the Director of the Concordia University Institute for Research on Migration and Society (IRMS), she leads various projects under the Apogée research program Bridging Divides: Immigrant Integration in the 21st Century*.

A member of the Équipe de recherche sur l’immigration au Québec et ailleurs (ERIQA) and the Immigration Research Initiative (IRI), Mireille Paquet contributes to numerous inter-institutional and multidisciplinary teams. She also serves as co-director of the Réseau de recherche sur l’immigration, l’intégration et les relations interculturelles au Québec (RQ3I), which aims to connect academic research with public policy in Quebec.

Mireille’s work focuses on comparative immigration policies, examining the role of bureaucracies in shaping immigration policies, the evolution of attitudes toward specific immigration programs, and political debates surrounding the use of technology in the immigration sector. As a public policy specialist, her research has primarily concentrated on Canada in a comparative context, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Mireille is a member of the College of the Royal Society of Canada and participates in numerous policy forums in Canada and abroad. Her research has been featured in leading political science journals, and she received the 2018 Best Book in French Award from the Canadian Political Science Association.

Antoine Bilodeau, PhD

Professor, Political Science

Antoine Bilodeau is a professor of political science at Concordia University in Montreal and the director of the Immigration Research Initiative (IRI). He earned his PhD from the University of Toronto and is also a member of the Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship (CSDC), the Équipe de recherche sur l’immigration au Québec et ailleurs (ERIQA) and the Groupe de recherche sur les sociétés plurinationales (GRSP).

His research focuses on how immigrants integrate the host society and on public attitudes toward immigration and ethnic diversity, with a special interest for the case of Quebec. 

Bilodeau’s work has received several awards. He won the John McMenemy Prize in 2020 and 2011 for the best paper published in the Canadian Journal of Political Science and also received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research in 2023 as well as the Concordia University Research Award in 2016.

Anna Sheftel, DPhil

Principal and Associate Professor in the School of Community and Public Affairs

Anna Sheftel is Principal and Associate Professor in the School of Community and Public Affairs at Concordia University. She is an oral historian of genocide, immigration, and activism. She has published extensively on oral history practice and ethics, most notably Oral History Off the Record: Toward an Ethnography of Practice (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), co-edited with Stacey Zembrzycki, which won the Oral History Association’s (OHA) 2014 Book Award, and her article, “Talking and Not Talking about Violence: Challenges in Interviewing Survivors of Atrocity as Whole People,” which won the OHA’s 2019 Article Award. She also co-developped Refugee Boulevard: Making Montreal Home After the Holocaust (www.refugeeboulevard.ca), which won both the 2020 OHA and Canadian Historical Association (CHA) Digital and Public History prizes. Her current project, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, is an oral history of a predominantly immigrant Jewish cemetery in Montreal.

Chedly Belkhodja, PhD 

Professor, School of Community and Public Affairs

Chedly Belkhodja is a professor at the School of Community and Public Affairs at Concordia University. He began his academic career with a BA in Political Science from l’Université de Moncton in 1988 and completed his MSc at l’Université de Montréal in 1990. He earned a Diplôme d’études approfondies in 1991 and completed his PhD in Political Science at l’Université de Montesquieu in Bordeaux, France, in 1996. 

Before joining Concordia in 2014, Belkhodja was a professor in the Department of Political Science at l’Université de Moncton, where he also served as the chair of the Department of Political Science for two terms. His research focuses on the issues of immigration in medium-sized cities and regions of low immigration and the discourses and representations of cultural, religious and ethnic diversity. He also examines the phenomenon of populism and the ideologies of the radical right.

Marie-Pier Joly, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Marie-Pier Joly is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. She received her PhD in Sociology from the University of Toronto and held a Postdoctoral Research position at the University of Göttingen in Germany. 

Her research and writing explore how contexts in origin and receiving countries and intersection of inequalities shape migrants’ health and labor market outcomes. Her current research centers on precarious legal status and its impacts on health and employment experiences in Canada.

She has published in journals including the International Migration Review, Journal of International Migration and Integration, Society and Mental Health and SSM: Population Health.

Deniz Duruiz, PhD

Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology

Deniz Duruiz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Concordia University. Her research focuses on Kurdish migrant farmworkers and Syrian refugees in Turkey and France, exploring themes like migration, political violence and racialization. Duruiz spent twenty months between 2009 and 2016 conducting ethnographic research in Bakur (Northern Kurdistan) and various rural areas in western Turkey.

Duruiz has also been involved in humanitarian projects, helping coordinate medical NGOs on the Syrian border during the influx of Syrian refugees into Turkey in 2014 and 2015. She is working on a book that examines the impact of political violence and racialization on migrant labor in rural Turkey and is also comparing refugee experiences in France and Canada, with an emphasis on labor issues.

Before joining Concordia, she was a visiting fellow at McGill University and a visiting professor at the Institute of Political Economy at Carleton University. Her earlier research was part of a postdoctoral fellowship in the Keyman Modern Turkish Studies Program at Northwestern University, where she also started the Keyman Podcast and co-organized a colloquium on refugees, migrants and statelessness. Duruiz earned her PhD in Anthropology from Columbia University, focusing on migration, race, labor and the political economy of conflict.

Amélie Daoust-Boisvert

Assistant Professor, Journalism

Amélie Daoust-Boisvert is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Journalism at Concordia University since 2019. Her research interests span from science, health and climate journalism, evidence-based solutions and innovations for journalism, solutions journalism and gender and diversity issues and the media. She’s also a regular collaborator to the radio show Moteur de recherche at ICI Radio-Canada Première. She was a reporter at the daily newspaper Le Devoir for over a decade, covering the health beat with a political, social and scientific lens. Graduated with an MA degree in public communication from Laval University, she was a lecturer at the Département d’information et de communication from 2009 to 2018. During her career, Amélie Daoust-Boisvert wrote for many news outlets and magazines about public affairs, science, education or the environment.

Diane Querrien, PhD

Professor, Département d’Études françaises
Program director, French as a second language and Linguistics

Diane Querrien is a professor at Concordia University, where she focuses on teacher education and second language didactics. Her work primarily involves training teachers who educate non-native speakers in Francophone regions. She leads various projects designed to create inclusive learning environments for second language learners and their teachers. Querrien collaborates with academic partners worldwide to enhance educational practices.

She was awarded the Jean-Marie Van-Der-Maren 2019 Excellence Award for her outstanding doctoral thesis in qualitative research. Querrien is also a member of the Concordia Centre for Studies in Learning and Performance.

In her role at the university, Querrien has managed practical training programs for French as a second language (FSL) educators. She currently heads the Graduate Diploma in Second Language Didactics and Linguistics for FSL teaching and teaches courses at various levels of French language instruction.

Andrew G. Ryder, PhD

Professor & Chair, Psychology 
Core Member, Centre for Clinical Research in Health (CCRH)

Andrew G. Ryder is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Concordia University and a licensed clinical psychologist in Québec. He received his PhD from the University of British Columbia and a Sc. from the University of Toronto. His work combines elements of clinical psychology, cultural psychology and transcultural psychiatry, offering insights into mental health across different cultures.

He leads the Culture, Health and Personality Lab and is a member of the Centre for Clinical Research in Health at Concordia. Ryder also collaborates with McGill's Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry and the Culture and Mental Health Research Unit at the Jewish General Hospital. He has made substantive contributions to the emerging field of Cultural-Clinical Psychology, which examines how culture shapes mental health.

Ryder's research is situated in three domains: how culture shapes emotions and emotional disorders, particularly in East Asian societies like China, Korea and Japan; the mental health impacts of acculturation on Montreal's immigrant population; and the development of transcultural and transdiagnostic psychological interventions. His work aims to build academic knowledge and practical applications across diverse clinical settings, aiming to make psychological interventions culturally sensitive and effective.

Colin Scott, PhD

Assistant Professor 

Colin Scott is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University, where his research interests are focused broadly in the areas of political psychology, intergroup relations and the applications of social and behavioral sciences to policy analysis and program evaluation. Currently, his research programs are concerned with issues relating to migration and integration, identity and inclusion, as well as civic engagement, both in Canada and in a comparative perspective.

Originally from St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, Scott holds a PhD in Political Science from McGill University (2021) and graduate degrees in psychology (University of Guelph) and political science (Memorial University of Newfoundland). In addition to his teaching and academic research, Scott consults for organizations and clients working in the public and non-profit sectors. He is an Assistant Editor with the International Journal of Intercultural Relations.

Gada Mahrouse, PhD

Associate Professor, Simone de Beauvoir Institute & Womens Studies

Gada Mahrouse is an Associate Professor at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute, Concordia University.  Her interdisciplinary work is informed by critical race studies, cultural studies, transnational feminist cultural studies frameworks and post/anti-colonial theories.

In recent years she developed anti-racist feminist praxis-based curricula and theory on migrations and mobility justice. Between 2021 and 2023, she designed and hosted three Summer Institutes on mobilities and migration. These events brought together scholars and community stakeholders to develop a collaborative approach whereby refugees/migrants are partners (not merely participants) generate knowledge that empowers them and helps to improve the conditions of their lives. 

Mahrouse is also a Co-founder and Advisory board member of Critical Refugee and Migration Studies Canada network (CRMSCN). This growing national network aims to foster critical and interdisciplinary knowledge production and exchange related to the social, historical, political and cultural dimension of migration and displacement and to studying the structures that produce forced migration through an intersectional approach. Since its inception, CRMSCN has organized multiple academic workshops and events, resulting in a number of publications (books, working papers, articles, etc.) to which she contributed.

Isabelle Bouvier

Administrative Director

Isabelle is a seasoned Director with extensive experience in the administration of research grants. She currently serves as the Administrative Director for the Centre for Immigration and Society (CIS) at Concordia University. Over the past 23 years at Concordia, she has held roles including Director of the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall and the D.B. Clarke Theatre, Administrator of the Centre for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology and Advisor for Post-award Research Grants and Contracts with the Associate Dean of Research. 

Before joining Concordia, Isabelle managed the Seagram Symphonia Program at Seagram Canada, a pan-Canadian sponsorship program supporting Canadian orchestras, which garnered several awards throughout her tenure. She also has a background in philanthropy and community service, having worked as an Administrator with the Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation and as a Program Coordinator for the Centre des Femmes de Montreal.

Kassandre Thériault

Coordinator

Kassandre graduated from the University of Montreal with an MA in Anthropology where her SSHRC funded research focused on religion and youth in diaspora. After working in research for the University of Montréal, l’Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue on questions of immigration and integration in Canada, she worked at the City of Montreal’s Newcomer Office. More recently, Kassandre worked in project management and project evaluation in France and Pakistan. Passionate about questions of displacement and cultural integration, she now works as Coordinator for the Institute for Research on Immigration and Society (IRMS) at Concordia University.

Marie-Jeanne Blain 

Researcher

Marie-Jeanne Blain, a social anthropologist graduated from the University of Montreal, has been carrying out research for more than ten years on the inclusion of immigrants and refugees in Quebec, particularly the processes of socio-professional integration. Her research themes focus on the professional aspirations of migrants of different immigration statuses, their support resources, and the implementation of policies and programs in this field. Carrying a dynamic vision of inclusion, she is equally interested in the experiences of migrants themselves, but also in those of speakers or professionals accompanying them as well as decision-makers and employers for example. She favors action research which allows the taking into account of different knowledge and perspectives, which promotes the mobilization of knowledge and guides public action.

Mylène Coderre

Senior Researcher

Mylène Coderre is an associate researcher at IRMS and holds a PhD in international development from the University of Ottawa (2023). As a research professional, she has contributed to several projects in both academic and institutional settings aimed at documenting the working and immigration conditions of people with precarious status in Canada. Her work focuses, among other things, on the roles of migration and labor intermediaries in migration pathways.  

Capucine Coustere

Researcher

Capucine Coustere’s doctoral thesis in sociology (Université Laval) focuses on the trajectories of young migrants benefiting from both facilitated temporary migration and potential access to permanent settlement within the precarious framework of their temporary residence status. Using a qualitative longitudinal perspective and a life course approach, her research explores how the negotiation of this temporary-permanent mobility regime affects the life course of temporary migrants with work experience in the hospitality sector in the city of Quebec. Her research was funded by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Société et Culture (FRQSC), and her defense is planned for October 2024. She also contributed to various research projects on temporary migrants in Canada from diverse angles: francophones outside of Quebec, international students, international students’ partners, and hospitality workers. Finally, she holds an MA in political science from the Institut d’études politiques of Strasbourg (France). 

Nadya Zezyulina

Researcher/student

Nadya Zezyulina is a distinguished fellow at Concordia University's research chair on the politics of immigration and a research assistant for the "Migrant Integration in the Mid-21st Century: Bridging Divides" project. She earned a bachelor's degree in business management from Samara State University and further pursued her passion for societal issues by obtaining a Psychology degree, with a minor in Immigration Studies, from Concordia University. Nadya is a recipient of a research fellowship Migrant Integration in the Mid-21st Century: Bridging Divides awarded by Concordia’s Department of Political Science.

Sivakamy Thayaalan

Student 

Sivakamy Thayaalan is a PhD student in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University studying sanctuary city policies and the experiences of undocumented migrants in Canada under the supervision of Dr. Mireille Paquet. Previously, she has worked in programmatic roles in international non-profit organizations such as War Child Canada and as a research assistant at York University conducting research on topics related to forced migration and disaster recovery.

Thomas Reynolds

Student 

Thomas Reynolds is a master's student in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University. Working under Dr. Mireille Paquet, he is studying food insecurity within refugee populations in Canada. Thomas looks forward to integrating his experience working in the food industry into his research, providing a unique perspective. From Portland, Oregon, Thomas obtained his bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Oregon, focusing on political theory and legal systems. He is the recipient of the Steven Goldberg Entrance Bursary and Campaign for a New Millennium Student Contribution Graduate Scholarship. In addition to his studies, Thomas works as a Teaching Assistant and a Research Assistant at Concordia University.

Brianna Losinger-Ross

Student

Brianna Losinger-Ross is an MA student in the Department of Journalism at Concordia University. Having completed a minor in Immigration Studies during her undergrad, she has always been interested in Quebec and Canadian immigration, with a particular focus on the media’s role in public perception. She is currently working as a research assistant, researching topics related to how immigration is discussed in Canadian parliament and its evolution over time.

Hannah Lazarus

Student

Hannah Lazarus, a recent graduate of Concordia University with a Bachelor's in Political Science and a minor in Human Rights, is currently doing Master’s studies in Public Policy and Public Administration at the same institution. Her international experience at Sciences Po Aix in Aix-en-Provence provided valuable insights into political issues from a European perspective. Having worked in a senior position at a Jewish community center for two years, she is looking forward to integrating her communication and collaboration skills in her role as a research assistant.

Benjamin Astorga

Alumni

Benjamin Astorga is an Honours student in Pure and Applied Mathematics at Concordia University and a national level gymnast training at the Olympic Training Centre. His Honors project focused on studying a generalization of derivates, called proximal sub-gradients. He has also founded a gymnastics software start-up called Gym Art, focused on bringing accessibility to the sport. It has tools ranging from automatically calculating the start value of a gymnastics routine, to reducing the time to organize a gymnastics event from hours to seconds and mathematically ensure the quality of experience of the athletes, coaches and judges. 

Estefania Perez

Alumni

Estefania Perez completed a MA degree in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University, studying immigrant influencers' role in shaping migration choices under the supervision of Dr. Mireille Paquet.