UBC Asian Studies

Drawing upon their individual and collaborative research, Dr. Shneiderman and Dr. Baniya explore how European funding is flowing into Nepal, while young people are flowing out of the country through labour migration to global locations including Europe.

Lunch will be served. RSVP on our website!

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Discover the key role theater and performance played in suturing identity in global Chinese theatre in the 1980s! Join Dr. Wah-Guan Lim for his talk on Tuesday, March 10 at room 604 of the Asian Centre.

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Join this pre-AAS research talk with Toeda Hirokazu (Waseda University) and Tanaka Yukari (Nihon University) on March 10! Japan Studies graduate students can also join a professional development seminar held on March 11.

See more details here:

Entangled Territoriesདཀའ་རྙོག་ནང་གི་ཡུལ་སྡེ། - Museum of Anthropology at UBC Closed Mondays October 15 – May 15

Join upcoming events in March such as panel discussions and curator tours for Entangled Territories: Tibet Through Images, an exhibition curated by our Assoc. Prof Fuyubi Nakamura!

If you're not able to visit in-person, enjoy an online tour hosted by Dr. Nakamura.

This Thursday at 4:30pm: Join Dr. Thomas Gaubatz as he discusses his monograph, The Textual Townsman: Writing Urban Identity in Early Modern Japan, exploring the tension between shared norms and the lived particularities in 17th-century Japan. Learn more:
asia.ubc.ca/events/event...

What K-dramas reveal about women and power today - alumni UBC What K-dramas reveal about women and power today As the Korean Wave expands globally, K-dramas are captivating audiences worldwide. For International Women’s Day, a UBC expert in Korean popular cultur...

In celebration of International Women's Day, join our Assistant Professor Ji-yoon An on Tuesday, March 3 as she takes a closer look at how the depiction of women in South Korean dramas have evolved over the past 20 years.

alumni.ubc.ca/event/what-k...

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On Mar 26-27, join us for the 25/26 Wat Lecture with Drs. Virginia Yip (CUHK) and Stephen Matthews (HKU) as they share how the future of Cantonese linguistic and cultural heritage relies on children and examine the language development of monolingual vs. bilingual children.

Co-organized by Dr. Colleen Laird and her colleagues, Videographic Venice invites participants to explore Venice as both subject and medium through videographic criticism. Apply by March 31: www.univiu.org/study/summer...

Thank you for attending Dr. Don Baker’s retirement lecture held on January 30. Marking his 40-year milestone with UBC Asian Studies, he discussed the lives of three brothers – a renowned philosopher, a pioneer biologist, and a Catholic Martyr in Chosŏn Korea.

asia.ubc.ca/news/2025-26...

This Friday at 12 pm: Join Dr. Naoko Kato (Corpus Christi College and St. Mark’s College) as she tells the stories of the Japanese diaspora members who were “doubly abandoned” by both the Canadian and Japanese states during the postwar period. Learn more: asia.ubc.ca/events/event...

🎨 CMS invites artists to submit for the 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱–𝟮𝟲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻! Explore how migrants navigate physical, social, political, and identity borders, revealing journeys of exclusion, hope, pain, and resilience.

Prizes: 🥇$1,250 🥈$250

Learn more: migration.ubc.ca/news/interna...

Join us for the upcoming lunchtime colloquium by Dr. Naveeda Khan, a Professor of Anthropology at Johns Hopkins University!

📍Allard Hall, Room 121 (UBC-Vancouver)
📅 Thursday, February 5 @ 12:30-2:00 PM
📝 Register here: shorturl.at/GBfg4
🥕 FREE LUNCH PROVIDED!

The Commodification of Emotions: AI and the (Dis)Embodiment in Interpreting - Department of French, Hispanic and Italian Studies Presented by Irem Ayan, Assistant Professor of French and Romance Studies (UBC FHIS) About the talk:  The task of translating and, even more so, interpreting puts the body of the translator and…

Join our next FHIS Research Seminar to explore the interpreter’s body as a site of analysis and to reflect critically on the embodied demands of the profession—especially in an age of AI, when bodies are increasingly framed as problems to be solved or eliminated.

Time Out of Joint: War, Memory, and the Limits of the Postwar in Grave of the Fireflies - Department of Asian Studies Please join us for an online talk by Dr. Jiajun Liang, who will be discussing the Studio Ghibli film Grave of the Fireflies. Widely regarded as a masterpiece of Japanese animation, Grave of the…

This Thursday at 4:30pm: Dr. Jiajun Liang (University of California) will be discussing the Studio Ghibli film Grave of the Fireflies, a tragic portrayal of civilian suffering in the aftermath of Japan’s defeat in World War II. Learn more:

A Japanese Work Community in Palestine: Japan’s Foreign Interface through Heritage Tourism Architecture and Construction - Department of Asian Studies Please join us for a talk by Dr. Millie Creighton (Department of Anthropology, UBC), who will discuss Japan-Palestine connections, and the Japanese residential community’s involvement with…

This Friday at 12pm: Join the talk by Dr. Millie Creighton (Department of Anthropology, UBC), who will discuss Japan-Palestine connections, and the Japanese residential community’s involvement with Palestinians. Learn more:

Apply to a workshop for Ways of Undoing: Craft, Collaboration, and Videographic Practice, a three-year international initiative exploring how new practices can unsettle hierarchical structures in videographic scholarship. asia.ubc.ca/news/call-fo...

Please join us in welcoming our new Associate Professor of Teaching in Korean Language and Culture, Ho Jung Choi! He is a highly experienced educator and former director of Princeton University’s Korean Language Program, bringing expertise and leadership to our community.
asia.ubc.ca/news/asian-s...

On Friday, January 30, join us for the 2026 Capstone Lecture, where our Professor in Korean History and Civilization, Dr. Don Baker will explore the remarkable lives of the Chŏng brothers, revealing valuable insight into life in late 18th- and early 19th-century Korea.
asia.ubc.ca/events/event...

Asian Studies New Postdoctoral Fellow Spotlight – Chui Joe Tham - Department of Asian Studies In this Postdoctoral Fellow Spotlight, we introduce you to Chui-Joe Tham, our new Geiss Hsu Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Ming Studies! Prior to joining UBC, she received her Doctor of Philosophy…

We're excited to welcome Chui Joe Tham, our new Geiss Hsu Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Ming Studies, who recently arrived from the University of Oxford with a Doctor of Philosophy in History! Learn about her research, interests and path to academia.

Applications for the position of Lecturer in Japanese Language are due by January 5, 2026. Please share with qualified individuals in your network!

Emotion and Entertainment in the Mobilization of the Japanese Empire, 1937-1945 - Department of Asian Studies From the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, a storytelling medium called kamishibai was used extensively by the Japanese government in its efforts to mobilize all imperial subjects in…

This Friday: join our Professor of Modern Japanese Literature and Popular Culture Dr. Sharalyn Orbaugh as she delves into how kamishibai (paper theatre) plays were used in Japanese wartime propaganda.

Dr. Joshua Mostow Receives Japan-United States Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature - Department of Asian Studies Our Professor of Pre-Modern Japanese Literature and Art, Joshua S. Mostow, was awarded the 2025-2026 Japan-United States Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature.

Congratulations to our Professor of Pre-Modern Japanese Literature and Art, Dr. Joshua Mostow, on receiving this year's Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature for his book "Hyakunin’shu: Reading the Hundred Poets in Late Edo Japan"!

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[Hybrid] How does U.S. immigration law create racial hierarchies through temporary visas? Find out during our second #SpeakerSeries event with Dr. Ming Chen on Nov 24, 11:45 AM–1:45 PM PT, IKBLC Dodson Room 302.

🔗 Register: migration.ubc.ca/events/event...

Paracolonial Thought in Afghan North India 1774-1857 - Department of Asian Studies The research seminar of the Global History of Anticolonial Thought interdisciplinary research cluster presents the talk titled, Paracolonial Thought in Afghan North India 1774-1857, by Dr. Naveena…

On November 19, join our Assistant Professor Naveena Naqvi for a talk titled “Paracolonial Thought in Afghan North India 1774-1857,” exploring how Afghan political communities in north India were polyvocal, decentralized, and actively shaping norms of civility. Learn more:

We are inviting applications for a Lecturer in Japanese Language, starting August 2026!

We're seeking an exceptional and experienced teacher of Japanese Language courses with interest and expertise in innovative curriculum design and pedagogy.

Apply by Jan 5, 2026. Details: bit.ly/japn-lecturer

Contested Frames: Women, Photography, and the Politics of Seeing in Modern Japan - Department of Asian Studies Join us for a talk by Dr. Kelly McCormick (University of British Columbia), who will discuss her book project on the history of Japanese women photographers and their untold stories. Kelly…

On Friday, November 7, join Dr. Kelly McCormick (UBC History) as she discusses the untold stories of women photographers in Japan and reveals how photography has built community and pushed back against media depictions of women in Japan.

What makes a monster? New UBC course delves into the rise of cinematic beasts As people prepare to curl up with movies centred around monsters, goblins and beasts this Halloween weekend, one B.C. professor is encouraging viewers to look beyond the jump scares and consider the p...

If your spooky movie season isn't over just yet (and why should it be? 👻 ), why not look beyond the jump scares and consider the powerful cultural metaphors that could lie within?

Dr. Ji-yoon An (@asia.ubc.ca) discusses her new course, Cinematic Monsters of Asia www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar...

UBC CENES, FHIS, and Asian Studies are excited to collaborate on a careers workshop for our students! Check out our event "From Classroom to Career: Speaking Success with Language Learning". More details in the link below.
fhis.ubc.ca/events/event...
@arts.ubc.ca @ubc-fhis.bsky.social @asia.ubc.ca

Overcaste: Exhibition and Opening Reception - Department of Asian Studies Opening Reception and Panel: Breaking the Silence: Caste, Policy and Liberation Despite growing conversations around justice and equity, caste continues to be ignored in Canadian discourses. Dalit…

Despite growing conversations around equity, caste continues to be ignored in Canadian discourses. OVERCASTE is one of the first exhibits to focus on the lived experiences of caste in the BC Panjabi communities.

Join the opening reception + panel discussion on Thu, Oct 30!

Mark your calendars for next Saturday, November 1st, at 7:00 PM (PDT)! Speaker Kathryn Babayan explores gender in the archive, revealing how these records offer glimpses into domestic life and illuminate family culture and social relationships.