Mathieu Boisvert has been a professor at l’Université du Québec à Montréal since 1992. He has completed a BA in Religious Studies at McGill University (1981-84), a diploma in Pali language at Siddharth College of Mumbai University (1984-85), master’s in South Asian Studies at the University of Toronto (1985-87) and a Doctorate in Pali and Sanskrit at McGill University (1987-91).
Given his initial training in languages and in ancient South Asian traditions, since his arrival at UQAM’s Department of Religious Studies, Mathieu Boisvert has shown particular interest in the interaction of South Asian religions with political and social spheres. He now works as the director of graduate programs in religious studies at UQAM.
Mathieu Boisvert has led numerous research projects in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, and Bhutan, focusing on contemporary religious practices such as pilgrimage, asceticism and those of sexual minorities.
He is also one of the founders of GRIMER (Groupe de recherche interdisciplinaire sur le Montréal ethno-religieux), which showcased religion’s role in reconstructing the identities of people immigrating to Quebec. Mathieu Boisvert has worked extensively with Hindu communities of Tamil/Sri Lankan and Indian origins. He also worked with Bhutanese refugees who have lived in Quebec since 2009. Since 1998, Boisvert has headed many academic projects in South Asian territories and notably organized educational student trips spanning multiple weeks. He also founded the short graduate program “Études de terrain en Inde,” a nine-credit program wherein students stay in India for close to one month after having taken two 45-hour seminars in Montreal, one in autumn and the other the spring before departure.
Mathieu Boisvert is the founder of CERIAS.
