New Quebec Studies Chair arrives at Glendon

langlois


Professor Simon Langlois, Chair of Quebec Studies at Glendon College for 2004-2005, is a sociologist specializing in trends in Quebec society, particularly relations between Quebec and anglophone Canada. He comes to York from Laval University where he is Chair of research development on French cultural expression in North America.



Right: Simon Langlois


Coordinator of the international sociological program Comparative Charting of Social Change (CCSC), Langlois is editor of the group’s series of published studies that explore international comparisons among developed societies. He also collaborated on the CCSC’s forthcoming book, Recent Social Trends in Canada 1960-2004 (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2005).


Langlois is co-author with colleague Gilles Gagné of an influential essay on public support for Quebec sovereignty titled “Les raisons fortes” (“Strong reasons”, University of Montreal Press, 2002), that interprets results of the 1995 referendum from a sociological perspective and examines the relatively consistent level of support for the sovereignty option as shown in opinion polls since that time.


Langlois will teach a full-year, bilingual course on the emergence and development of Quebec society that examines the premise that Quebec society began the 20th century as French-Canadian and, by acquiring new points of reference, emerged into a Quebec context.


As holder of the Chair of Quebec Studies, Langlois will also organize a symposium at Glendon, Feb. 23-25, 2005, on Ontario-Quebec Relations: New Realities, New Perspectives. Ontario and Quebec are about to sign an agreement for cooperation before the end of 2004 and this symposium will provide an excellent opportunity for analyzing the evolution of the relationship between central Canada’s two great provinces. Three aspects of this relationship will be examined: comparisons between Ontario and Quebec, commercial relations, and a look at the cities of Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto.


After receiveing his BA and MA in sociology at Laval, Langlois studied in France and received his PhD from the University of Paris-Sorbonne.