UBC Asian Studies
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UBC Asian Studies
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UBC’s Asian Studies Department is the flagship Asian Studies department in Canada and is widely acknowledged as one of the finest in North America.
https://asia.ubc.ca/
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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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.
asia.ubc.ca
November 24, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Reposted by UBC Asian Studies
[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...
November 3, 2025 at 6:09 PM
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:
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…
asia.ubc.ca
November 13, 2025 at 9:00 PM
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
November 13, 2025 at 12:01 AM
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.
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…
asia.ubc.ca
November 5, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Reposted by UBC Asian Studies
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...
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...
www.ctvnews.ca
November 3, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Reposted by UBC Asian Studies
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
October 30, 2025 at 4:15 PM
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!
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…
asia.ubc.ca
October 25, 2025 at 3:53 PM
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.
UBC
asia.ubc.ca
October 24, 2025 at 9:36 PM
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.
Visual + Material Culture Research Seminar Series - Fall 2025 - Museum of Anthropology at UBC
This interdisciplinary seminar series is for anyone with interests in visual and material culture across different departments at UBC and beyond. The seminar provides an...
moa.ubc.ca
October 21, 2025 at 11:01 PM
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...
Learning and Transformation within the Boundaries of Tradition: An Institutional Analysis of Shi’a Political Jurisprudence - Department of Asian Studies
The Alireza Ahmadian Lecture in Iranian and Persianate Studies presents: Learning and Transformation within the Boundaries of Tradition: An Institutional Analysis of Shi’a Political Jurisprudence on…
asia.ubc.ca
October 17, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Join our Sustainability Initiative Committee and the Hong Kong Studies Initiative on Thursday, October 23 for an evening of eco-documentary screenings and discussion that will illuminate the often-overlooked natural heritage of Hong Kong!

Learn more and register:
Eco-documentary Screening + Conversation: City of Shells: Our Forgotten Oyster Reefs and Breathing Room - Department of Asian Studies
The program features two eco-documentaries about Hong Kong that walk us through the often-forgotten nature of the “concrete jungle.” City of Shells: Our Forgotten Oyster Reefs 香江遺礁, directed by Mike…
asia.ubc.ca
October 16, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Explore the history of the Trans-Iranian Railway, Iran’s first national railway completed in 1938, and how it reshaped mobility, labor, and belonging!
Just announced! The Mirhady Lecture in Iranian Studies has returned with:

"Iran in Motion: Contested Histories of the Trans-Iranian Railway", featuring Mikiya Koyagi of U of Texas (Austin).

Oct 16 | 6PM | Register Now!

eventbrite.ca/e/iran-in-mo...

#sfuhistory #sfu #sfufass #mirhady
October 14, 2025 at 9:17 PM
THIS FRIDAY: Join Dr. Michi Ann Saki (Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts) for a discussion on viewpoints and experiences of educational stakeholders engaged in offering Japanese language support to ethnic minority children in public elementary schools in Japan.

asia.ubc.ca/events/event...
Stakeholder Perspectives on Language Support for Ethnic Minority Children in Japan: Centering Voices That Matter - Department of Asian Studies
Join us for a talk by Dr. Michi Ann Saki (Visiting Scholar from Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts), who will discuss viewpoints and experiences of educational stakeholders engaged in offering…
asia.ubc.ca
October 14, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Join us online on October 18th at 4:00 pm as Hamid Sajadi and Rumee Ahmed discuss the question of how transformation occurs in Shi’a political jurisprudence through the interaction between entrenched institutional structures and emerging demands.
Learning and Transformation within the Boundaries of Tradition: An Institutional Analysis of Shi’a Political Jurisprudence - Department of Asian Studies
The Alireza Ahmadian Lecture in Iranian and Persianate Studies presents: Learning and Transformation within the Boundaries of Tradition: An Institutional Analysis of Shi’a Political Jurisprudence on…
asia.ubc.ca
October 11, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Hear from Indigenous women from the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh about their everyday experiences of gendered violence, displacement and representation of Indigenous women and Indigenous people in the national discourse.

RSVP to join the conversation online or in-person!
Everyday Indigenous Experiences in the CHT, Bangladesh: Voices from Indigenous Women - Department of Asian Studies
This roundtable centers the voices of Indigenous women from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh as they speak about everyday experiences of gendered violence, displacement and…
asia.ubc.ca
October 11, 2025 at 3:35 PM
"More Swindles from the Late Ming" (2025), translated by UBC Asian Studies professors Dr. Christopher Rea and Dr. Bruce Rusk, presents sensational stories of scams from Zhang Yingyu’s criminal underworld, where women both led and exposed elaborate cons.

Read the full Q&A:
We're wrapping up National Translation Month with tales of women who mastered deception in Ming Dynasty China. buff.ly/mcgXG6G #NationalTranslationMonth #MingDynasty #FemaleSwindlers #HistoryUnveiled #ReadTheWorld
October 10, 2025 at 5:02 PM
How has modern Japanese literature been shaped by aesthetic ideals?
Join us on October 10 at 4:00pm as Dr. Anri Yasuda, through explores how the timeless questions about beauty are at the heart of modern literature’s ability to illumine the inimitable experiences of being human.
UBC
asia.ubc.ca
October 8, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Our Assistant Professor, Dr. Pasang Yangjee Sherpa, spoke at the International Mountain Conference in Innsbruck last month, sharing insights from her work in Khumbu and highlighting glaciers as powerful, interconnected beings.

Read more: asia.ubc.ca/news/dr-pasa...
October 5, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Reposted by UBC Asian Studies
[Hybrid] How do Australia’s deterrence policies shape refugee lives long after they receive legal recognition? Prof. Helena Zeweri unpacks their lasting impact in our first #SpeakerSeries of the year on Oct 6, 11:45 AM–1:45 PM PT, IKBLC Dodson Room 302.

🔗 Register: migration.ubc.ca/events/event...
September 16, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Tomorrow, October 2 at 2:00pm PT: join Palestinian lived theologian Shadia Qubti for an intimate presentation exploring what it means to live between worlds and how communities maintain identity, family bonds, and hope amid systems of separation.

asia.ubc.ca/events/event...
UBC
asia.ubc.ca
October 1, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Reposted by UBC Asian Studies
Join #UBCForestry and @landfood.ubc.ca on September 30 at 1956 Main Mall as we unite for an Intergenerational March to Commemorate Orange Shirt Day.

Learn more: bit.ly/osd-2025
#UBC #OrangeShirtDay
2025 Intergenerational March to Commemorate Orange Shirt Day |
Join Land and Food Systems and Forestry for an Intergenerational March to Commemorate Orange Shirt Day on Sept 30.
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September 3, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Why is everyone obsessed with KPop Demon Hunters? The movie has broken records on Netflix, and its songs continue to dominate the charts.

Asian Studies Assistant Professor Ji-yoon An sat down with The Globe and Mail to discuss the sensation and the spread of South Korean culture.
KPop Demon Hunters, Korean culture and why kids love it so much
The film is Netflix’s most-streamed movie ever and its songs, such as ‘Golden’ and ‘Soda Pop,’ are topping Billboard’s Hot 100 chart
www.theglobeandmail.com
September 28, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Congratulations to Asian Studies Professor Sunera Thobani on her latest publication, "Decolonizing Knowledge: Looking Back, Moving Forward"!
The book looks at the definitions of decolonization that emerged from anti-colonial thinkers in their struggles for freedom from colonialism.
buff.ly/Uqf3HGR
September 27, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Tomorrow at 7:00am: Join Dr. Shahira Yacout (The American University in Cairo) for a discussion on teaching Arabic listening skills, where she explores teacher challenges, learner difficulties, and approaches to selecting effective audio materials.

Presented in Arabic: asia.ubc.ca/events/event...
September 25, 2025 at 6:49 PM