Dean Pascale Sicotte: "By supporting a network that brings together researchers interested in Quebec, both here and around the world, we help circulate knowledge, foster new collaborations and give the next generation of researchers opportunities to consider Quebec from an international perspective."
Concordia University has once again become a member of the Association internationale des études québécoises (AIEQ), renewing a collaboration that reflects its commitment to advancing research on Quebec, both at home and abroad.
Founded in 1997, the AIEQ brings together the largest international network dedicated to Quebec studies. The organization supports researchers interested in Quebec by fostering international collaborations, academic mobility and the organization of scholarly activities. It also helps promote Quebec society, culture, history and realities among a network of more than 1,000 specialists around the world.
Concordia’s renewed membership comes at a pivotal moment for the Association. Following the decision by Quebec’s Ministry of International Relations and La Francophonie to end its financial support, the AIEQ launched a call for solidarity to ensure the continuation of its activities. Several members of the university community and former ministers also mobilized to ask the government to reconsider its decision.
“Our commitment is to build connections between Quebec and the world, and our membership in the AIEQ is a concrete example of this,” says Pascale Sicotte, Dean of Concordia’s Faculty of Arts and Science.
“By supporting a network that brings together researchers interested in Quebec, both here and around the world, we help circulate knowledge, foster new collaborations and give the next generation of researchers opportunities to consider Quebec from an international perspective.”
Concordia’s membership reaffirms the importance of networks that allow knowledge to circulate across borders, benefiting research, teaching and dialogue among academic communities.
A renewed membership supported by the university community
The renewed membership is the result of efforts undertaken over the past several years, to which Jean-Philippe Warren, professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, made a significant contribution.
“The AIEQ is an exceptional network that brings together Quebec specialists from around the world,” says Warren. “It demonstrates that academic research on Quebec, across a wide range of disciplines, can help shed light on regions well beyond its borders, just as societies that may seem far removed from us can deepen our understanding of our own part of the world. In a way, the AIEQ brings the world a little closer together while making Quebec itself an object of comparison and reflection on an international scale.”
A network supporting research and the next generation
By facilitating exchanges between Quebec universities and their international partners, the AIEQ provides students and faculty members with opportunities to develop collaborations, share their work and participate in research projects at the international level. The Association also supports the next generation of researchers through mobility programs and funding for scholarly activities.
For Concordia, this renewed membership reflects a commitment to strengthening partnerships that foster the internationalization of research and raise the profile of expertise developed at the University.
“As a Quebec institution, we are pleased to reignite the partnership with the AIEQ and to support their important work,” says Effrosyni (Faye) Diamantoudi, provost and vice-president, academic. “Concordia’s professors and students are key ambassadors for Quebec, providing opportunities to strengthen ties between our community and the rest of the world.”