Christine Dallaire

Christine Dallaire studies sports and physical activity from a sociocultural perspective, with a particular focus on Canadian society, youth and communities. Her current SSHRC (2018-2021) funded project compares the experiences of young adults (18-25 years old) that invest themselves in sports leadership roles. The case studies of the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa, the YMCA-YWCA Capital Region and the Jeux de l’Acadie explore how former participants that return as young adult leaders of the sport programs conceive of the ‘community’ they wish to contribute to and how it motivates their engagement. Her earlier research focused on the role of sport in the discursive construction of francophone and Canadian identities among youth. She received SSHRC funding (2000-2004) for a comparative study of the Jeux de l'Acadie, the Jeux franco-ontariens and the Jeux francophones de l'Alberta. She then received more SSHRC funding (2007-2011) to study the Jeux de la francophonie canadienne and the Jeux du Québec. Her interest in Canada’s francophones led her to take part in a Community-University Research Alliance — Knowledge-based Community Governance (SSHRC 2009-2014) — as well as to carry out projects on improving professional practice and institutional programs for Canadian Heritage, the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (francophone services section) and the Fédération de la jeunesse franco-ontarienne (FESFO).  Christine Dallaire supervises master’s and doctoral students working in the broader area of the reproduction of identity and representation through sport, who have encouraged her to expand her thinking beyond cultural identity, to address issues of gender and sexuality, as well.