Congratulations to our Professor/Department Head, Sharalyn Orbaugh, who received the Dean of Arts Award! Dr. Orbaugh was honoured for nearly three decades of teaching and her leadership as Head, and chose to accept the award in the name of Professor Emerita Dr. Tineke Hellwig. bit.ly/49PsztP

Join renowned human rights lawyer, respected professor, award-winning author, celebrated human rights lawyer, and dignified activist Noura Erakat on June 1 for a conversation on our collective futures considering Palestinian justice and freedom. bit.ly/4fedqG2 @ccms-sfu.bsky.social

Join us in-person at Robson Square on Thursday, May 21 as Dr. Shaahin Pishbin discusses what it meant to be “Iranian” before the rise of the modern nation of Iran. asia.ubc.ca/events/event...

Our Assistant Professor Pasang Yangjee Sherpa was invited by the BC First Nations to present her co-authored report which advocates for the inclusion of Indigenous people in global climate science and policy processes given their holistic understanding of the climate crisis. bit.ly/4tqGeyp

Congratulations to our Sanskrit lecturer Janet Um on being a recipient of the AMS UDL Champions Award! Dr. Um was recognized for her Students as Partners work bridging heritage and non-heritage Sanskrit learners and applying Universal Design Learning principles to improve SANS 300. buff.ly/KsbMRtH

Submit your paper proposals that explore Pure Land Buddhism in relation to the “Great Earth,” broadly understood, by May 15. Contributions engaging with any geographical region, historical period, or methodological approach are welcome. Learn more:

Tomorrow, join Dr. Christina Laffin for a conversation with Kanako Nishi and book translator Allison Markin Powell to discuss what the translation of Nishi’s bestselling novel, Sakura, means in the context of the rising popularity of Japanese fiction among English readers. bit.ly/4mgatpW

Join the 2026 CMS Migration & Integration Conference for a full day of engaging panels, discussions, and networking opportunities.

Join us April 24th for a workshop on “infrastructural biography” as a research method for examining infrastructure in its social, environmental, political, economic, and material contexts. Lunch will be served and work will be pre-circulated. RSVP by end of day April 20 if you plan to attend.

Explore the poetry, film, letters, interviews, and prose of Forugh Farrokhzad with Dr. Farzaneh Milani on Saturday, April 18 at UBC Robson Square! See how Farrokhzad expanded Iran’s literary language, reach, and imaginative boundaries. asia.ubc.ca/events/event...

🗓️ Apr 1 | 12–1:30 PM | IKBLC, Dodson Room (302) How do street markets shape — and survive — city life? Dr. Maurizio Marinelli (@ucl.ac.uk) explores urban mobility, migration & community resilience in London & Hong Kong. 🔗 Register: migration.ubc.ca/events/event...

Learn more about how the Collaborative Digital Heritage Studio (CoDHerS)—founded by our assistant professor Dr. Aynur Kadir—works with communities to document and strengthen endangered languages!

UBC graduate students — are you engaged in policy-related research on Canada–Asia relations? Apply for the new Dr. Paul Evans Research Prize in Canada–Asia Relations Policy by April 2!

Join us tomorrow, March 26 for the Yip So Man Wat Memorial Lecture, and Friday, March 27 for the Wat Lecture Research Seminar. Celebrate 10 years of our Cantonese Language Program with linguists Virginia Yip and Stephen Matthews!

The CMS Mobilities research group invites you to a talk by Prof. Wanning Sun on March 16 from 3:00 to 4:30 PM in C.K. Choi 351, examining Chinese-language media, transnational platforms, and political belonging among PRC immigrants in Australia. 🔗 Register: migration.ubc.ca/events/event...

Discover how marriage, race, and geopolitics intersect in Reform-era China. Join us for a conversation on Post-Soviet Brides in the China Dream with Prof. Elena Barabantseva (@manchester.ac.uk). 📅 March 12 | 11:00–12:30 PM 📍 Buchanan Tower, Room 225 🔗 Register: migration.ubc.ca/events/event...

On Friday, March 13 at 11am, join our Assistant Professor Pasang Yangjee Sherpa and scholars Mabel Gergan and Arvind Kumar as they explore critical questions around Indigeneity, caste, race, and decolonial thought in South Asia. Join in-person or online via Zoom at this link: bit.ly/4lnjcpQ

Discover how the movement of Buddhist ideas, art, and individuals shaped and contributed to a richly connected Global Asia across two millennia! Join us in-person or online on March 11 from 5pm for the next Yin‑Cheng Distinguished Lecture, featuring Dr. Tansen Sen.

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!

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.

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:

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...

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...

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!

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.

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:

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...

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!

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.

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"! buff.ly/qHVv7XO

[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...

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

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.

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

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.

Join our Assistant Professor Kiran K. Sunar this Thursday, October 23 at 4pm for a talk on the many visual and material incarnations of the South Asian Sohni Mahiwal tale—a tragic riverine love story which has been retold and reimagined by various artists and tellers.

TOMORROW, Oct 18 at 4:00 PM (PDT): RSVP to learn more about the catalysts of change within an institutional framework. asia.ubc.ca/events/event...