Dr. Jennifer Selby

Biography

Jennifer Selby is a professor jointly appointed in the Political Science Department and the Department of Religion and Culture at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She has been appointed as the director of the faculty's Nexus Centre for research in Humanities and Social Sciences for 2024-25. Her work broadly examines contemporary secular politics in Canadian, Québécois, and French contexts. Her recent book, Secular Sensibilities, published by the University of North Carolina Press in 2025, explores the emotional, affective, and embodied nature of secularism, based on transnational fieldwork in Algeria, France, and Québec. Selby currently leads an SSHRC-funded research project titled 'Secularism on the Move'. An extensively published scholar on Islam and Muslims in France and Canada, her contributions span books and numerous articles in prominent journals. Some of her selected works include edited volumes and investigations into gender politics, legality in secular contexts, and the everyday narratives of Muslim Canadians. Selby's scholarly interests also encompass feminist theory, international politics, and the interaction between religion and law in societal frameworks.

Research Interests