Dr. Carlo Handy Charles uses qualitative mixed methods to examine the intersection of international migration, race, gender, sexualities, and socioeconomic inequalities among migrants and nonmigrants in the Americas, the Caribbean, and Europe. His current book project examines how men in Haiti form and sustain queer transnational relationships with Haitian immigrants in the United States, Canada, France, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, as well as the impacts of such relationships on Haiti.
His research program includes his ongoing research on (1) the integration of queer newcomers in Windsor and Detroit, (2) the community-building experience of queer migrants and refugees in Windsor Ontario, (3) the transnational experiences of queer migrants and refugees in Europe, and (4) how sexuality shapes cryptocurrency-romance scams globally.
His previous research includes a Special Issue on Racialized Refugees in Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, as well as various publications on how the COVID-19 pandemic affects racialized people globally, how race shapes the reception of Haitian asylum seekers in Canada and how Haitians engage in transnational politics of belonging.
Research Program
Migration and Sexualities
Dr. Charles’s current book project with the University of Chicago Press draws on nearly a year of ethnographic field research and in-depth interviews to examine the meanings and impacts of transnational relationships queer men Haiti form and sustain with their queer migrant partners across the Haitian diaspora in Canada, the United States, France, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic.
Newcomer Integration
Dr. Charles published a research report on the wellbeing of queer newcomers in Toronto and Ottawa. He is conducting a research project that combines sociological insights on queer migration and queer theatrical performances subverting gender expression through humour and satire to explore the socio-cultural integration of queer migrants and refugees in Canada and the United States.
Migration and Health
In his previous projects, Dr. Charles has analyzed the intersection of international migration and health among Haitian asylum seekers and queer, racialized people during the COVID-19 pandemic and racialized Francophone LGBTQ+ migrants and refugees in Canada. He has also studied how cryptocurrency romance scams globally affect victims’ mental health, especially victims who are immigrants and refugees.
Fellowships, Grants, & Awards
Fellowships
2025-2026
Humanities Research Group, Faculty Fellowship, FAHSS, University of Windsor.
2024-Present
Department of Sociology, Visiting Scholar, University of Michigan—Ann Arbor.
2020-Present
CNRS-Institut Convergences Migrations, Fellowship, Paris, France.
2024
Digital Intimacy, Gender, and Sexuality Lab, Visiting Scholar, Concordia University.
2018-2024
Pouvoirs, Histoire, Esclavage, Environnement, Atlantique, Caraïbe, Doctoral Fellow, Université des Antilles.
2017-2018
York University Centre for Refugee Studies, Former Graduate Student Associate.
2016-2017
York University Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean, Research Associate.
2016-2018
York University Harriet Tubman Institute, Research Associate.
Grants
2025-2026
2025-2026
Creation/Exploration Grant, Ontario Arts Council, Canada.
Research Seed Grant, Black Scholar Institute, University of Windsor.
2023-2028
Research Start-up Fund, Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, University of Windsor.
2022-2024
Support Grant for Community-Led Projects on LGBTQIA/2S Wellness through an Intersectional Lens, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, and FrancoQueer Association.
2020-2023
SSHRC-Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
2019-2022
Pierre Elliott Trudeau Scholarship, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, Montréal, Canada.
2019-2023
France-Canada Research Fund, Service Culturel de l’Ambassade de France au Canada.
2019
The Barkley’s of Avonmore Bursary, School of Graduate Studies, McMaster University.
2018-2022
McMaster University Graduate Research and Teaching Stipend, Entrance and Recruitment Scholarships.
2018
Graduate Summer Research Assistance, the Canadian Union of Public Employees 3903, York University.
2018
Canadian Sociological Association, XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology.
2018
York University Faculty of Graduate Studies Graduate Development Fund.
2017
York University Graduate Student Association Conference Support Bursary.
2016
Explo’Ra Sup Bursary, Université Lumière Lyon II, France.
2014
CROUS-Lyon International Students Bursary, location.
Awards
2024
CNRS Foundation and PHEEAC Prize (for Ma Thèse en Manga), Université des Antilles.
2024
Outstanding Graduating Sociology Student Award, Canadian Sociological Association.
2024
Best Ph.D. Thesis nomination by McMaster University Department of Sociology internally for the CAGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award.
2022-2023
The Alfred Hunter Memorial Award for Academic Excellence, McMaster University.
2021
Congress Graduate Merit Award, Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences of Canada.
2020
CALM Finalist for the Ed Finn Award for Excellence in Writing, CUPE 3906 and Canadian Association of Labour Media Awards.
2018
The Michael Baptista Essay Prize, The Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean.
2017
Certificat d’Honneur et Mérite, Cap-Haitian, Université Libre d’Haïti.
2017
Award for Outstanding Global Engagement, Toronto, York Internationa.
2017
Best Research Paper and Best Presentation, Sociology Undergraduate Association Conference, York University.
2016
Best Paper and Presenter Awards, Global Perspectives in International Education, York University.
2015
Certificat de Service Civique, Institut National du Service Civique Lyon, France.
Publications
Peer-Reviewed
2025
Charles, Carlo Handy. “Queer Migrants: Importers of Homosexuality to Haiti?”, Journal of Haitian Studies, (forthcoming).
2023
Charles, Carlo Handy. “Transnational Space and Homosexuality: An Ethnographic Analysis of Same-sex Intimate Cross-border Relationships among Men in Haiti and their Migrant Partners Across the Haitian Diaspora,” Doctoral Thesis. McMaster University and Université des Antilles. Source
2020
Caqueo-Urízar, Alejandra, Alfonso Urzúa, Diego Aragón-Caqueo, Carlo Handy Charles, Ziad El-Khatib, Akaninyene Otu, and Sanni Yaya. 2020. “Mental Health and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chile.” Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy 12(5):521-23.
2020
Yaya, Sanni, Yeboah, Helena, Carlo Handy Charles, Akaninyene Otu, and Ronald Labonte. 2020. “Ethnic and racial disparities in COVID-19-related deaths: counting the trees, hiding the forest”. BJM Global Health, 5(6).
2020
Otu, Akaninyene, Carlo Handy Charles, and Sanni Yaya. 2020. “Mental health and psychosocial well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: the invisible elephant in the room”, International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 14:38.
2019
Cénat, Jude Mary, Carlo Handy Charles, and Philomena Kebedom. 2019. “Multiple Traumas, Health Problems and Resilience among Haitian Migrant Pathways in Canada’s 2017 Summer Migration Crisis: Psychopathology of the Crossing”. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 25(5):416-437.
2018
Charles, Carlo Handy. 2018. “Transnational Social Field: A Framework to Analyze Cultural Politics of Belonging in the Haitian Diaspora.” Centre for Research on Latin America and The Caribbean.
Special Issue
2019
Kyriakides, Christopher, Dina Taha, Carlo Handy Charles, Rodolfo Torres. (2019). “The Racialized Refugee Regime” and the Special Issue “Racialized Refuge” in Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees (June 2019). Co-edited with Christopher Kyriakides, Dina Taha, and Rodolfo D. Torres. Retrievable here.
Submitted/Under Review
TBD
Manuscripts in Preparation
TBD
Charles, Carlo Handy. “Borderless Intimacies: Haitian Men Navigating Queer Relationships and Money Across Nations.” Monograph in preparation.
Research-Based Art
2024
Charles, Carlo Handy. (2024). “Histoire de Louis”, Manga, MTM, CNRS Foundation.
Research Reports & Public Scholarship
2024
Charles, Carlo Handy & Laurent Francis Ngoumou. (May 2024). Favoriser le bien-être et l’intégration sociale de la communauté racisée francophone LGBTQIA+ de Toronto et Ottawa, FrancoQueer, Toronto, ON, Canada.
2022
Charles, Carlo Handy. (May 5, 2022). « To keep people – and their money safe, regulate online dating .» The Conversation. Retrievable here.
2022
Charles, Carlo Handy & Mark Osmond. (April 27, 2022). Méfiez-vous du « Crypto Crush ». Le Devoir. Retrievable here.
2022
Charles, Carlo Handy & Mark Osmond. (April 20, 2022). « Crypto Crush: Watch out for online romance scams and swipe left ». Medium. Retrievable here.
2022
Charles, Carlo Handy. (March 1, 2022). « Organized crime has infiltrated online dating with new sophisticated « pig-butchering » scams. The Conversation. Retrievable here.
2021
Charles, Carlo Handy et al. (February 19, 2021). Compendium on COVID-19. Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. Retrievable here.
2020
Charles, Carlo Handy. (July 28, 2020). “International students will suffer most from tuition hikes [after the COVID-19 pandemic]” First Policy Response. Retrievable here.
2020
Charles, Carlo Handy. (July 15, 2020). “Pandemic has exposed Canada’s mistreatment of newcomers”. The Toronto Star. Retrievable here.
2020
Charles, Carlo Handy and Veronica Øverlid. (July 3, 2020). “Tuition hikes exacerbate existing challenges for international students”. Policy Options. Retrievable here.
2020
Charles, Carlo Handy. (June 21, 2020). “Penser le monde d’après de façon plurielle et intersectionnelle”, La Presse. Retrievable here.
2020
Charles, Carlo Handy. (May 19, 2020). “Immigrants are worrying about social ties and finances during coronavirus,” The Conversation. Retrievable here.
2020
Charles, Carlo Handy. (May 7, 2020). “Systemic racism should be a policy priority after COVID-19”, Medium. Retrievable here.
2020
Charles, Carlo Handy. (March 22, 2020). “Coronavirus: la grande insécurité des étudiants étrangers au Canada », La Conversation. Retrievable here.
2020
Charles, Carlo Handy. (March 19, 2020). “Canada’s Coronavirus border policy exposes international students’ precarious status”, The Conversation. Retrievable here.
2019
Charles, Carlo Handy. (February 27, 2019). “Québec’s Trump-like immigration policies contradict Canada’s welcoming image”, The Conversation and The National Post. Retrievable here: Retrievable here and here.
2018
Charles, Carlo Handy. (February 13, 2018) “Is the Petro the Outcome of a Blood Pact with Evil Voodoo Spirits?”, Caracas Chronicles, USA-Venezuela. Retrievable here.
Conference Presentations & Research Talks
Conference Presentations & Research Talks
2024
“Make Art from Research with Dr. Carlo Handy Charles”, Humanities Research Group’s Research Outreach Series, Office of Research and Innovation Services and Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, (November) University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Retrievable here.
2024
“Transnational Solidarities: Liberatory Intersectional Feminist and Queer Research in Haiti and the Diaspora,” Panel with Mamyrah Dougé-Prosper (UC-Irvine), Erin Durban (University of Minnesota), Ryan Joyce (Ohio State University), (Mario LaMothe (University of Illinois, Chicago), Haitian Studies Association Annual Conference, (October), New York, USA.
2024
“Queer Migration/Mobility Across the Haitian Transnational Social Space in the U.S., Canada, France, and the Dominican Republic,” American Sociological Association 2024 Annual Meeting, (August) Montréal, Québec, Canada.
2024
“Transnationalism and Sexuality: How Haitian gay men negotiate economic, social, and political remittances in their intimate transnational relationships,” Canadian Sociological Association, Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, McGill University, (June) Montréal, Québec, Canada.
2024
“’I can’t eat love’: How sex, money, and transnational space shape Haitian gay men’s cross-border connections and intimate relationships”, Canadian Sociological Association, Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, McGill University, (June) Montréal, Québec, Canada.
2024
“Queer Transnational Space: How dating apps shape romantic connections and intimate cross-border relationships among queer Haitian migrants and nonmigrants,” (June) Digital Intimacy, Gender, and Sexuality Lab, Concordia University, Montréal, Canada.
2024
“Favoriser le bien-être et l’intégration sociale de la communauté racisée francophone LGBTQIA+ de Toronto et Ottawa” with Laurent Francis Ngoumou, (May), FrancoQueer, Toronto, ON, Canada.
2024
“Positionality and Reflexivity in Research on Transnationalism and Homosexuality,” Groupe de Recherche sur le Genre, Sexualité, Race et Migration, (April) Institut Convergences Migrations, Paris, France.
2024
“Haitian Migration and Post-migration across the Caribbean and the Americas,” Colloquium on Post-migration, Centre for the Study of Black Canadian Diaspora and the Pyepoudre Movement Lab, (April) OCADU, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
2024
“The Economic, Social, and Political Impacts of Same-sex Intimate Transnational Relationships among Men in Haiti and their Migrant Partners in the Haitian Diaspora.” (March) BelMix Seminar Series, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
2024
“Positionality and Reflexivity in Research with Black Communities,” Lunchtime Talk Series, Department of Sociology and Criminology, (February) FAHSS, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
2023
“After the Interregnum: Reimagining a Black Queer Diaspora Praxis and Care,” American Studies Association 2023 Annual Meeting, (November) Montréal, QC, Canada.
2023
“Homosexual Transnational Space: Intimate Cross-border Relationships among Gay Men in Haiti and their Migrant Partners in the United States, Canada, and France,” Haitian Studies Association 35th Annual Conference, (October) Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
2023
“Transnational Space and Homosexuality: Negotiating Economic, Social, and Political Remittances in Gay Transnational Relationships,” American Sociological Association 2023 Annual Meeting, (August) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
2023
“Transnational Space and Homosexuality: How migration, space, and homosexuality intersect to shape transnational romantic relationships between gay men in Haiti and abroad,” International Studies Association 2023 Annual Convention (March) Montréal, Québec, Canada
2023
“Beyond Social Liberalism: Examining the Relationship Between Support for LGBTQ+ and Support for Immigrants,” International Studies Association 2023 Annual Convention, (March) Montréal, Québec, Canada.
2022
“Transnational Space and Homosexuality among Haitian Gay Men” 2022 Annual Conference of the Sexualities Studies Association and the Canadian Sociological Association Annual Conference at the Online Congress of the Federation for the Humanities and the Social Sciences in Canada.
2022
“How do gay men in Haiti get involved in transnational relationships with migrant partners?” 117th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological, (August), Los Angeles, California, United States.
2022
“Perceived Insider Status” A Joint Conference of the Qualitatives and the International Society for Symbolic Interactionism, (June) St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.
2021
“The construction of Haitian gay immigrants as immoral.” Annual Congress of the Canadian Sociological Association. A Virtual Conference.
2021
“Political homophobia in Haiti”. Annual Conference of the Sexuality Studies Association. A Virtual Conference.
2020
“How Global South Scholars’ Understanding of Global Migration Challenges Current Ontology of International Migration?” International Studies Association Annual Convention, Honolulu, USA. The conference was cancelled due to COVID-19!
2019
“What Can the Reception of Haitian Asylum Seekers Tell Us about Race and Ethnicity in Canada?” The 2019 Canadian Sociological Association Congress, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
2019
Chair of the session “Race and Ethnicity: Macro-sociological Processes and Identity Formation” at the 2019 Canadian Sociological Association Congress, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
2019
“Venezuela: A Transit Space in the South-South Migration of Haitians” at the International Metropolis Conference, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
2019
“The World Refugee Year 1959 – 1960: How Canada Moved toward the Deracialization of its Immigration System”, presented with Dr. Vic Satzewich at the International Metropolis Conference, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
2019
Co-organizer and Chair of the Sessions: (1) Claims and Meaning Making, and (2) Race, Environment, and Mental Health: Analyses of Behaviours, Attitudes and Regulations. Jane Synge Memorial Conference, Department of Sociology, McMaster University.
2018
« Vulnérabilités, traumas et résilience chez les réfugiés Haïtiens en Amérique du Nord : Psychopathologie de la traversée et de l’habiter », co-presentation with Jude Mary Cénat at the Conference : « Parcours de Résilience : accompagner les réfugiés suite aux traumas », Centre d’Expertise sur le bien-être et la santé physique des réfugiés et des demandeurs d’asile and SHERPA at McGill University, Montréal, Canada.
2018
“The Interplay between Nationalism and Racialization in the Reception of Haitians in Canada,” XIX International Sociological Association World Congress of Sociology, Toronto, Canada.
2018
“Culture, Identity and Belonging in the Haitian Transnational State”, The 43rd Annual Caribbean Studies Association Conference in La Havana, Cuba.
2018
“What are the repercussions of sending Haitians back to Haiti?” On the panel Neither Here nor There: Remittances, Revenues, Returns, A “Harvard Romance Languages and Literatures Graduate Conference 2018: “Can the Migrant Speak?” Harvard University.
2018
“The Role of Anti-Blackness in the Perception of Haitians in Canada” in the panel on Ethnic Policies, Politics and Belonging at the 48th Annual Conference of the Urban Affairs Association in Toronto, Canada
2017
Invited talk on the theme: “Quelles sont les répercussions de l’éminente déportation des Haïtiens bénéficiaires du TPS sur l’état transnational haïtien?” Université Libre d’Haïti, Cap-Haitian, Haiti.
2017
Presentation of the paper: “Haitian Transnationalism: A Framework to Analyze Cultural Politics of Belonging and National Identity in the Haitian Diaspora in Canada”. (Undergraduate Research Fair with juried selection and the Center for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean CERLAC).