In my research axis focusing on women, gender, and religion, I place particular emphasis on the concept of embodiment. I engage in a comparative study of historical and emerging forms of ritualization that revolve around the female body. Specifically, I investigate traditional and contemporary rituals surrounding pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period, taking place mostly outside (or in spite of) the medical context. My research primarily centers on francophone Western contexts, while also drawing comparisons with cases from India.
Another area of inquiry that I am currently developing pertains to practices and discourses concerning fertility awareness. This includes exploring its spiritual and religious dimensions, as well as its increasingly digitalized aspects (on this, see my chapter in The Routledge Handbook of Religion, Medicine, and Health, 2021).
In 2021, at the Université Laval, I co-organized a workshop on “In/visible Bodies: Gender, Religion, and Politics”. The outcomes of this workshop are available as an edited volume.
Funded by the Fonds Cardinal-Maurice-Roy (2021-2022) research grant, another one of my projects aimed to highlight the connections with and inspirations from South Asian and “Eastern” spiritualities and religions of Frédérick Leboyer (1918-2017). This French obstetrician is known for advocating “birth without violence”. During the 1960s, Leboyer became a disciple of Swami Prajnanpad. For further information, please refer to the poster and video related to this research project, as well as to a recently published chapter.
From a broader perspective, I am interested in exploring the role of religion in medical settings, as well as the transfer of health and healing practices between “East” and “West”. Additionally, I investigate the reactions that arise when these practices’ spiritual or religious origins and dimensions do not align with Western biomedical discourses. When relevant and feasible, I incorporate decolonial perspectives through various collaborations, for instance in my project on teachers of fertility awareness.
Photo by Conscious Design on Unsplash