Team

Marco Munier is a doctoral student in the Department of Political Science at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), and a lecturer at the Université de Sherbrooke and UQAM. He specializes in intelligence, defense and national security policy. Marco Munier has published several scientific articles and book chapters on the Canadian and French intelligence apparatuses, the conceptualization of clandestine actions, Canada’s participation in the fight against the Islamic State, and the evolution of Canadian and Italian defense postures. He is also co-editor of Intelligence Cooperation under Multipolarity: Non-American Perspectives (University of Toronto Press, 2024).

After a bachelor’s and master’s degree in anthropology (ULaval, 2011 and 2013), Frédérick Nadeau completed a doctorate in urban studies at INRS (2020). He then pursued his work through postdoctoral internships, first at the Centre d’expertise et de formation sur les intégrismes religieux, les idéologies politiques et la radicalisation (2020-2022), then at the Chaire de recherche France-Québec sur les enjeux contemporains de la liberté d’expression (2023-2024). He is now a research professional with the UNESCO Chair in the Prevention of Violent Radicalization. Dr. Nadeau specializes in political ideologies and social movements, particularly those labelled “radical”. More specifically, he is interested in emerging forms of political ideology and activism in a context where the institutions of liberal democracy are being challenged. Among other things, he carried out a four-year ethnographic survey during which he infiltrated Quebec’s extreme right to share the daily lives of activists and understand their paths of commitment. His work earned him the Relève Étoile Paul-Gérin-Lajoie prize from the Fonds de recherche du Québec (June 2020). He has published in various French- and English-language journals (Bulletin d’histoire politique, Anthropologica, Canadian Ethnic Studies, Recherches sociographiques), and his expertise is frequently sought by local, national and international media (Radio-Canada/CBC, Le Devoir, La Presse, RTS-Radio Télévision Suisse, Le Monde, El País, TVA, Montreal Gazette).

Sabrina Paillé works as a research professional on the PREV-IMPACT Canada project. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in sociology from the Université du Québec à Montréal and pursued her doctoral studies in sociology at York University. In her research, she has shown a particular interest in the sociology of nationalism, reactions to immigration and gender issues, as well as radical right-wing and populist movements in Germany and Europe. Sabrina has several years of experience as a teaching assistant and research assistant. She has been part of the training team at the RPC-PREV since 2021.

A triple master’s student in International Political Communication and Democratic Risks at the University of Sherbrooke, the Catholic University of Louvain and Sciences Po Aix-en-Provence, Rémi Palisser holds a bachelor’s degree in information-communication from the Université Paul Valéry Montpellier III and a master’s degree in research, studies and consulting in information-communication and media at the School of Journalism and Communication of Aix-Marseille. During his university career, he had the opportunity to participate in research work in partnership with the Chair, on the media treatment of the attacks of November 13, 2015 in France. Originally from this country, he is very interested in the world of media and information practices of citizens. His dissertation thus studies the paywalls on online press sites and the consequences they generate for publishers and within the behavior of Internet users.

Fakhreddine Riahi is a student in applied politics – public policy path – at the Université de Sherbrooke. He plans to pursue a master’s degree. Throughout his academic journey, he has nurtured an interest in issues concerning the governance of data, artificial intelligence and disruptive technologies. He is also interested in the effects of social networks and search engines on political attitudes. He aims to develop his knowledge and research expertise within the UNESCO-PREV Chair.

Léonie Roy is a student in applied political studies with a major in international relations at the Université de Sherbrooke. During her bachelor’s degree, she developed a particular interest in polarization issues arising from disinformation. She plans to pursue her studies with a master’s degree in political communication.

As a trained musician (classical singing and piano), Méi-Ra St-Laurent holds a doctorate in musicology from the Université Laval. Her doctoral thesis entitled Métal noir québécois: l’analyse du récit identitaire d’une communauté black metal marginale focused on a community of black metal groups from Québec, in which she draws links between music, texts and the discourses emanating from them. Previously, her master’s thesis analyzed the narrative in extreme metal music. Specifically, she studied how music and lyrics form a unique narrative, often transgressive in scope. Ms. St-laurent has published several articles in different academic journals (Metal Music Studies, Journal on the Art of Record Production or Intersections : revue canadienne de musique) and presented her work at several international conferences (Art of Record Production Conference, International Association for the Study of Popular Music, International Society for Metal Music Studies). Ms. St-Laurent works with Vivek Venkatesh as part of her postdoctoral fellowship funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Her current research focuses on the increasing concern about the use of inclusive discourse (so-called “political correctness”) in the North American context of popular music, where she will draw connections with the circulation of hate speech in public spaces.

Tarik Tairi is an intercultural mediator specialized in conflict resolution, intervening in the reception and integration of immigrants at SANC Sherbrooke. He is a doctoral candidate in Contemporary Religious Studies at the University of Sherbrooke. His doctoral thesis focuses on the place of Islamic religious discourse in programs for deradicalization and the prevention of violent extremism. The research will make recommendations on how to integrate Islamic religious discourse, as a calming and tolerant alternative discourse, into a prevention/deradicalization program and strategy. 

Leslie Touré Kapo specializes in the social construction of race and its impact on the life trajectories of inhabitants from working-class neighborhoods and immigrant backgrounds. His research and teaching expertise is based on a wealth of experience in social intervention and popular education in marginalized urban spaces in France and Québec. As part of his doctorate at the National Institute for Scientific Research (INRS), he carried out an ethnographic survey exploring the process of racialization in the daily and ordinary experiences of young Montrealers. This ethnography was awarded the prize for best thesis 2020–2021 by the INRS Urbanisation Culture Société Research Centre.

Gabriel is currently a master’s student in applied political studies at the Université de Sherbrooke. He has been a research assistant with the Chair for several months now. He is interested in issues related to nationalism, but also in the phenomenon of online radicalization. Having completed his internship with the Chair, he is delighted to continue his work with the organization.