Quebec appears to tackle questions related to religious diversity differently than other provinces in Canada. Why is that? What role does the Catholic heritage of the province play in understanding these differences? Why does this province feel the need to legislate on the place of religion in its society, and on secularism? What are the consequences of those legislations, especially for religious minorities? This seminar seeks to answer these questions and others by examining the evolution of religion, law and politics in Quebec.  The province’s political history and contemporary debates on religion and secularism, as well as sites of worship and pilgrimages, are considered within the socio-cultural contexts that produced them. The course combines in-class seminar sessions, and field visits to a range of sites in Montréal, Quebec City and Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. 

More specifically, SOSC 4371 considers (and problematizes the narrative of) the province’s move from the Grande Noirceur (Great Darkness), through the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, which set the stage for the emergence of the distinct brand of Québécois secularism or laïcité. We focus on what some scholars label the “Québécois lurch into modernity” to trace changing conceptions of, and the emerging relationships between, religious traditions, nationalism, immigration, post-colonialism, gender, and secularization. Finally, we briefly examine contemporary Judaism, Islam, and New Religious Movements, as well as Québécois political and legal responses and restrictions that have followed. 

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Applications will be open from November 11, 2024 to January 10, 2025.

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Prerequisites: AP/SOSC 2350 6.00 or permission of the instructor.

Course Credit Exclusion: AP/SOSC 4370 6.00, AP/SOSC 4370 3.00