Emmanuelle Sirois

Doctoral Candidate in Arts Studies and Practices

Université du Québec à Montréal

My research interests: scandal studies · performance studies · sociology of the arts · critical theories · spectatorship · pop culture · impact of AI on society · discourses on freedom and censorship · qualitative research, notably the entretien d’explicitation.

My work is organized around four research projects:

01
AI, freedom of creation and the arts: how artificial intelligence reconfigures creation, authorship and artistic freedom.
02
Scandals as method: I study scandals in the performing arts and approach scandal as a performative machine, one that both reveals and institutes, mapping the spectrum between artistic freedom and censorship across artistic fields.
03
Relations between theatre, performance and politics.
04
The history of Québécois theatre: rereading it through its conflicts and controversies.

My work and projects have been supported by, among others, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), including a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, the European Commission, and the Délégation du Québec à New York.

Based in Lenapehoking (Brooklyn, NYC) and still working at times in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyaang (Montréal), I have worked alongside my research as a dramaturg, a curator and a translator. As a senior project manager, I have organized numerous conferences, panels and public events in Europe and North America.

Golden light and leaf shadows on a wall

Selected publications

2027
Article in preparation (proposal accepted).
Recherches féministes, vol. 40, no 2, open-call section, Université Laval
2020
Lamoureux, È., J. Paquette and E. Sirois (eds.), Arts, entre libertés et scandales : études de cas.
Éditions Nota bene, Montréal
2020
“L’angle mort du scandale et les politiques de la compassion : Mouawad, l’affaire Cantat et la théorie critique de la reconnaissance.”
In Arts, entre libertés et scandales, Nota bene
2014
Bélanger, A., L. Jacob (eds.), C. Casemajor, R. Guedj, J. Simard, E. Sirois and A. Sugàr, Les effets de la médiation culturelle : participation, expression, changement.
Université du Québec à Montréal / Ville de Montréal
2012
“Le théâtre des petites lanternes de Sherbrooke.”
In La médiation culturelle : le sens des mots et l’essence des pratiques, Presses de l’Université du Québec
more →

Selected talks

2026
“The Killer as Coryphaeus: Feminist Love and the Limits of Aesthetic Enchantment.”
International Federation for Theatre Research annual congress, Melbourne
2026
“L’autonomie du théâtre québécois après l’ère de l’autonomie de tout : repenser son histoire à partir de ses scandales depuis 2010.”
Société québécoise d’études théâtrales annual conference
2022
“Theatre and Scandals: What Can We Learn from l’affaire Cantat?”
Mellon School of Theater and Performance Research, Harvard University
2021
“Performing Feminist Eroticisms: Deconstruction, Reterritorialization, Diversity and Ambiguity.”
Amherst College
more →

Curating & public projects

2020
Je suis une femme d’Octobre — curator and scholarly direction, an artistic hacking of the October 1970 crisis.
Théâtre ESPACE GO, Montréal
2019–20
Nos héroïnes, a series of public conversations — co-founder and curator.
Théâtre ESPACE GO, Montréal
2016
Québécois Playwrights Project and A Day with Robert Lepage — curator.
Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, CUNY, New York
2009–14
UPop Montréal — co-founder; over 300 free talks in cafés, libraries and art centres.
Montréal
more →

Teaching

Memberships

Affiliations & service

current
Volunteer translator and legal support for immigrant communities and asylum seekers, Co-Counsel NYC
2019–22
Scholar-in-Residence, Théâtre ESPACE GO, Montréal
2019–22
Board member, L’Euguélionne bookstore, Montréal
2018–22
Member, Research Centre in Public Ethics and Governance, Saint Paul University, Ottawa
2018–21
Research affiliate, Department of French Literature, Thought and Culture, New York University
2018
Dramaturgy and community outreach, La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines, Montréal
2017, 2022
Fellow, Mellon School of Theater and Performance Research, Harvard University
2016–18
International projects manager and curator, CEAD (Centre des auteurs dramatiques), Montréal
2016–17
Reading committee member, Théâtre de Quat’Sous, Montréal
2015–16
Co-founder and scholar-in-residence, RDV_art et politique, Usine C, Montréal
2015
Visiting Scholar, Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, Graduate Center, CUNY, New York

Honors, grants & scholarships

2022
Grant for Excellence, Fondation de l’Université du Québec
$2,500 CAD
2019
Travel Grant, Service des relations internationales, UQAM
$4,000 CAD
2018
Program Grant for Excellence, Faculty of Arts, UQAM
$3,000 CAD
2016
Québec–United States University Grant Program (Québécois Playwrights Project), Ministry of International Relations and La Francophonie, Government of Québec
$3,000 US
2016
Connection Grant for the conference Théâtre. Liberté. Scandale., Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
$12,000 CAD
2015
Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement, SSHRC
$6,000 CAD
2013–16
Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Leadership), SSHRC
$150,000 CAD
2013–14
French Community of Belgium and Government of Québec Graduate Scholarship
€28,000 (declined)
2013
ProArt Scholarship, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), Germany
€1,000
2013
LOJIQ Mobility Scholarship, Les Offices jeunesse internationaux du Québec
$700 CAD
2010–12
Erasmus Mundus Scholarship for International Students, European Union
€48,000
2010
OFQJ / OQWBJ grant, Printemps des Universités Populaires (Paris, Lyon, Aix-en-Provence, Arles, Brussels)
$5,100 CAD, 6 participants
2008
Student Grant, INRS (National Institute of Scientific Research)
$14,000 CAD
2007
Innovation Award, Recognition of Student Involvement, UQAM
$1,000 CAD

Education

Career interruptions