RECAP - You are Here: Asian Canadians on the Map

RECAP – You are Here: Asian Canadians on the Map

On Saturday, April 11th, ACAM Dialogues hosted their public-facing event at 312 Main in the heart of Vancouver’s Chinatown and Downtown Eastside. ACAM Dialogues Coordinators Gabby Abando, Felicity Gutierrez, and Lian Lo welcomed community members to discuss the many ways we all come to understand ourselves in relation to the layered geography of so-called Metro Vancouver.

After some brief introductions, the Dialogues Coordinators engaged the event participants in an open conversation to get to know one another. Questions about belonging and migration in Vancouver were prompted by the Dialogues Coordinators, and guests were invited to take a seat in a circle to discuss their answers. These open-ended questions offered the opportunity for participants to draw similarities and spout some new connections – including, but not limited to, a recurring Michael Bublé theme in personal stories of Vancouver.

After the guests refilled their plates, the Dialogues Team split everyone up into smaller groups. Here, the Dialogues cohort members recreated the same insightful and honest conversations that they have as a group each month. Each group was given a map of Metro Vancouver and was asked by members of the Dialogues cohort to highlight locations that hold personal significance. Soon enough the room lit up into conversation, laughter, and shared sentiments on places all across the map. This piece of paper became coloured with the lives of the participants, points became stories of childhood memories, locations of painful memories commiserated, and UBC not highlighted as an institution, but as a place of friendship and found family.

This warm and welcoming space transitioned to participants reimagining the map even further. The Dialogues Coordinators kindly provided everyone with a broad collection of magazines, city maps, postage stamps, coloured markers, and travel guides for participants to redefine the map of Metro Vancouver on their own terms, reflecting their ideal collective future of these cities. To conclude the event, guests participated in a gallery walk to come together once more and engage with what life and belonging in Vancouver looks like in the present and could look like going forward.

Upon the conclusion of the event, the sense of community was strong. Guests introduced themselves to one another, complimented each others’ maps, and exchanged contact information. At their event, the ACAM Dialogues team truly showed the impact of conversation and collective imagining, and provided a much needed space to uncover underexplored truths about how complex identity and community building can be. Through this event, guests were given various mediums to express these feelings and experiences on what it means to live as racialized settlers and migrants on the unceded Indigenous lands of Metro Vancouver.

Reflection by Rhea Mann; video by Devon Meadows

Kelly Midori McCormick




Assistant Professor

History

Email: kelly.mccormick@ubc.ca

I am a historian of modern Japanese material and visual culture. My research examines how Japan’s social, political, and cultural transformations have shaped photographic practice and the mass press. I explore photography as both an instrument of state power and a medium used to challenge the state; the gendering of photographic technology and industrial design; the values embedded in the materiality of images and objects; the politics of museum collection and display; and the relationship between photography and environmental protest.

Contested Frames: Women, Photography, and the Politics of Seeing in Modern Japan (under contract with Duke University Press) reinterprets twentieth-century Japan through the work and media representations of women photographers from the 1930s to the 1970s. Drawing on archival sources not previously examined together, the book reconceptualizes Japanese photography as a site where state power and women’s labor were negotiated and transformed. It shows how, during total war, photography operated both as an instrument of imperial ideology and a space of agency for women; how in the Occupation and early Cold War it helped legitimize new political hierarchies and consumer identities; and how the postwar camera emerged as a gendered emblem of national design. Later chapters trace women photographers’ challenges to documentary realism and culminate in feminist counter-media practices that redefined portraiture, spectatorship, and bodily autonomy. Reading photographs alongside representations of their makers, the book argues that photography functioned not merely as documentation but as a social practice that structured—and contested—modern Japanese visual culture.

I am Principal Investigator and Co-Director of the SSHRC Insight Development Grant and UBC TLEF–funded digital humanities project, Behind the Camera: Gender, Power, and Politics in the History of Japanese Photography. This open-access, open-source platform advances new critical approaches to the history of photography, feminist art history, and modern Japan.

As co-lead of the Critical Image Forum (CIF), a Research Excellence Cluster funded by the Office of the Vice President, Research and Innovation I support interdisciplinary research dedicated to the political, ethical, aesthetic, and social dimensions of photography, image archives, and expanded documentary practices.

I am a member of the Editorial Board of Trans Asia Photography and a Scientific Committee member of the Photography, Art Feminisms – International Research Centre (FAF).

Rhea Mann

Rhea Mann holds her Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Political Science. During her time at UBC, Rhea constantly explored various adventures for creative and political expression. She joined the ACAM student staff team in 2024, where she co-hosted and co-produced the ACAM Dialogues Podcast for two years. Being a part of the ACAM team, Rhea was able to make lasting connections and friendships with faculty and students alike. She was able to research topics and create episodes on all her interests, which span from the politics of cultural appropriation to sharing her predictions for the Oscars. Moving forward, Rhea is grateful for the skills she gained and strengthened with ACAM and is looking forward to what the future holds.

What is a favourite memory or story you have from ACAM?

During the summer of 2025, I moderated a panel at the Museum of Vancouver. This panel was a discussion and celebration of the Community Garden Project, which was a partnership between the museum and ACAM. After the panel discussion, one of the museum staff told me they had recognized my voice from the podcast and that they enjoyed the episodes we had put out the previous year. In this moment, I felt the impact of the work I had done at ACAM. Creating the podcast can feel isolating, and I was never sure who the episodes were reaching. In this moment, I was able to talk with someone who appreciated the content and the messaging behind the podcast.

What connections and ideas were you able to foster through ACAM?

The ACAM Dialogues Podcast gave me the platform and creative freedom to explore ideas and issues that are personal to not only myself but the larger Asian diaspora on campus. From my episode on the growing Punjabi music industry in Canada, to my interview with Christopher Cheung discussing the White Gaze in Canadian media. Every episode I was lucky enough to work on, I tried to include my own positonality whilst being respoectful of others.

What is one piece of advice you would give your first-year self?

Don’t let the fear of failure prevent you from taking new opportunities! There were so many times throughout my undergrad that I stopped myself from going to an event or joining a club, simply due to the fear of not succeeding or the fear of being disliked. If I could go back, I would try to tell myself to say yes and see what happens next.

Sarina Virani

Sarina (she/her) is an Ismaili Muslim with a passion for community-engaged learning and scholarship. Born and raised on Treaty 7 territory (Calgary), she is grateful to have spent the last few years living and learning on Musqueam land. She is graduating with a BA in Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice and a minor in ACAM. Her undergraduate experience has been enriched by the community-based projects she has taken on. She is the founder of the BIPOC Reading Buddies program at the Vancouver Black Library, a grassroots program that foregrounds diverse literature and intergenerational mentorship for children of colour. She has hosted sessions in collaboration with Promise Vancouver and UBC Botanical Garden. She also founded @thebeautyinbipoc on Instagram, a photography collective built by and for women of colour that strives to address Eurocentric beauty standards through shared reflection. She is interested in exploring the intersections between art and activism.

Why did you declare a minor in ACAM? What drew you to the program?

Declaring a minor in ACAM was incredibly fitting, as its coursework complemented what I was already learning as a GRSJ student. In particular, it was the unique array of courses and the incredible faculty members that drew me to the program. One of the highlights included taking an ACAM directed studies course, under the supervision of Dr. Laura Ishiguro, in which I explored the rise in anti-South Asian racism on social media. I also enjoyed taking ACAM 320J: Asian Canadian Research and Engagement (now known as ACAM 400) with Dr. JP Catungal and christina lee, introducing me to the foundations of ethical and reciprocal community-engaged research. Lastly, I found that ACAM 350: Asian Canadian Community-Based Media with Alejandro Yoshizawa was particularly memorable, offering a creative approach to Asian Canadian storytelling.

Name an ACAM faculty whose class had a signficant impact on you and share why.

Dr. Alifa Bandali’s teaching has had a significant impact on my academic journey. I was lucky enough to take numerous courses with her throughout my undergraduate degree. She is an incredible educator who creates classroom environments that empower students to build better worlds. Every one of her classes was engaging and inspiring. Knowing that she was an ACAM faculty member made me even more inclined to pursue the minor. Last summer, I had the chance to work with Dr. Bandali as an Undergraduate Academic Assistant, reviewing proposed syllabus materials for ACAM 100, a new course offered for the first time in January 2026. It has been an absolute privilege learning from her.

Have you completed any projects through or related to an ACAM course? If so, could you share your experiences and, if possible, share a link to your project.

This year, ACAM nominated me to take part in the Rungh Wikipedia Scholarship program. In collaboration with the Rungh Cultural Society and Wikimedia Canada, we were tasked with producing public-facing knowledge on racialized artists and art movements in the Canadian context. I had the opportunity to present my research at the Surrey Art Gallery, participate in an Art + Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon, and produce meaningful research on an Asian Canadian artist. I enjoyed connecting with other scholars in my cohort. This experience furthered my interest in disrupting dominant patterns of knowledge production in online spaces. I am very grateful to the ACAM team for extending this opportunity to me.

Rayna Friar

Rayna Friar (they/he) is a second-generation immigrant with roots in Malaysia and South India. They graduated with a major in Cognitive Systems and a minor in ACAM. They were drawn to the ACAM program because of the chance to learn about Asian Canadian communities and culture alongside amazing people. Rayna was also the Communications Coordinator for the ACAM department and greatly enjoyed contributing to the ACAM community by sharing news and events.

What is a favourite memory or story you have from ACAM?

All of my favourite ACAM memories involve sharing food with my fellow student staff and classmates. I love how ACAM lets us come together and share food from all of our cultures and nourish our souls as well as our bodies.

What connections and ideas were you able to foster through ACAM?

Through ACAM, I was able to explore the histories of my own heritage and how they relate to Canadian society today. Through this department, I felt represented much more than any other department at UBC. I made lifelong friends who shared similar ideals, interests and the same love for food!

Have you completed any projects through or related to an ACAM course? If so, could you share your experiences and, if possible, share a link to your project.

While working for the ACAM department, I conducted an accessibility audit of the department’s communication practices. I got to research accessibility in communications and graphic design and compile a report to share with my team. As more accessibility research is conducted, I hope that the next communications coordinators are able to continue adding to my work.

Melissa Lee 李麗文

Melissa Lee 李麗文 is a fourth generation settler of Toisan and Hakka roots born and raised on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), & scəw̓ aθən məsteyəxʷ (Tsawwassen). She is graduating with a BA in English Literature (hons) and a minor in Asian Canadian & Asian Migrations Studies. During her time at UBC, she worked as an undergraduate Special Projects Coordinator for UBC ACRE (Centre for Asian Canadian Research and Engagement) where she worked on projects that promote multigenerational storytelling and community partnership.

What is a favourite memory or story you have from ACAM?

Some of my favourite memories were from my time as a student in the ACAM390A field study abroad. In 2024, ACAM390A travelled to Hong Kong and Southern China where I visited my ancestral village in Toisan. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to meet my family in my ancestral village. I also made some amazing friendships with my classmates as we explored the Hoiping village markets, sang terrible karaoke, and shared meals. The following year, I was brought on the 390 field study as a program assistant travelling across Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Honolulu. I bonded with my fellow program assistants and student staff team as we navigated travel by train, car, and plane.

Why did you declare a minor in ACAM? What drew you to the program?

I initially joined the ACAM program to help contextualize my family’s migration stories. I remember joining ACAM under the assumption that I would get high level historical context about early Chinese migration which would later help me in my personal research. I never thought I would be actively researching my family history in class and have the opportunity to visit my ancestral village (made possible by the Wuyi University student research team and ACAM390A). Not only did the ACAM program help me reconnect with my family overseas, but it also introduced me to a supportive community of students, alumni, and faculty. I am incredibly grateful for the ACAM community and their endless encouragement!

What is one piece of advice you would give your first-year self?

I would tell myself to explore all the course offerings as I did not hear about the ACAM program until my second or third year. I would also recommend trusting your intuitions because your passions can lead you to really fulfilling paths!

Felicity Jaye Gabrielle Gutierrez

Felicity Gutierrez (they/them) is a first-generation Filipino migrant living on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and sʔəl̀ilwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations.

Felicity grew up in Manila, summered in Batangas, and was rather abruptly uprooted and repotted into Canada. Some wayward roots remain in the Philippines, of course. All these gardening metaphors mean to say that Felicity is interested in the tapestry of empire, migration, labour, class, and language.

They are graduating with a BA in International Relations, with a minor in Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies at the University of British Columbia.

They tackle various communications and community-engaged projects at the Centre for Asian Canadian Research and Engagement (ACRE). Felicity’s favourite projects would have to be ACAM Dialogues and the PAUWI Walking Tour documentary.

Outside of all this, Felicity can be found either cooking in their kitchen, or looking for new places to eat wherever they can.

Why did you declare a minor in ACAM? What drew you to the program?

When I met with Dr. Benjamin Cheung and Dr. Laura Ishiguro in 2023 to declare a minor in ACAM, they mistakenly thought that I simply wanted to learn more about the program. In truth, the elevator pitch wasn’t necessary at all because I had already enjoyed my prior experience with ACAM 390A: Asian Migration and the Making of Islands with Dr. Henry Yu, a Go Global course that took us to Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. I went into that Zoom call fully looking to sign up for more ACAM classes.

Beyond the initial travel opportunity, what really drew me to ACAM was the community-engaged and critical scholarship that it offered, which was an appreciated reprieve from the top-down orientation of my studies through my major in International Relations. All of the other ACAM classes that I went on to take after ACAM 390A ended up being just as enriching and empowering, with various interdisciplinary perspectives on personally relevant topics.

What connections and ideas were you able to foster through ACAM?

I finally, genuinely know what neo-liberalism means now! Thank you, Dr. Danielle Wong.

Have you completed any projects through or related to an ACAM course? If so, could you share your experiences and, if possible, share a link to your project.

One of my favourite courses, ACAM 400 (formerly ACAM 320J), is a project-based course where student groups get the chance to work with community organizations. I was fortunate enough to be part of this course during its first iteration. My classmate Vanessa Matsubara and I partnered with Sliced Mango Collective, an arts-based Filipino youth organization. Together, we put together a public art project called “Kung Saan-Saan,” exploring how Filipino communities in Metro Vancouver practice placemaking without having a central gathering place. See the posters we made here.

 

Graduate and Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Positions – 2026W

The Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies Program (ACAM) is seeking applications from Graduate and Undergraduate Teaching Assistants from the Faculty of Arts to assist the following courses in 2026W Term 1 and Term 2.

 

ACAM_V 100-001 – Introduction to Asian Canadian Studies (Term 2, Tue/Thu, 9:30 am – 11:00 am) 

Qualifications: Must be a current undergraduate or graduate student in ACAM, English, History, Geography, Psychology, Sociology, or other relevant disciplines in the Faculty of Arts. Applicants must demonstrate a good understanding in socio-cultural issues pertaining to Asian Canadian communities. Good communications and organizational skills are an asset. 

Duties: The TA may be required, at a minimum, to attend classes, lead discussions, hold office hours, and manage course Canvas page. 

Hours of work: The workload is around 12 hours per week, and the total number should not exceed 192 hours. Please note that the hours may vary from week to week depending on how the course is structured. 

Salary (as of Sept 1, 2024) 

  • U.T.A. I – $26.40 per hour 
  • U.T.A. II – $24.44 per hour 
  • G.T.A. I – $40.16 per hour 
  • G.T.A. II – $38.65 per hour 

Application: A letter of application and a curriculum vitae (please include all contact information and year of study). 

 

ACAM_V 300-001- Dis/Orienting Asian Canada (Term 1, Tue/Thu, 9:30 am – 11:00 am) 

Qualifications: Must be a current undergraduate or graduate student in ACAM, History, English, Sociology, or other relevant disciplines in the Faculty of Arts. Applicants must demonstrate a good understanding in socio-cultural issues pertaining to Asian Canadian communities. Good communications and organizational skills are an asset. 

Duties: The TA may be required, at a minimum, to attend classes, lead discussions, hold office hours, and manage course Canvas page. 

Hours of work: The workload is around 12 hours per week, and the total number should not exceed 192 hours. Please note that the hours may vary from week to week depending on how the course is structured. 

Salary (as of Sept 1, 2024) 

  • U.T.A. I – $26.40 per hour 
  • U.T.A. II – $24.44 per hour 
  • G.T.A. I – $40.16 per hour 
  • G.T.A. II – $38.65 per hour 

Application: A letter of application and a curriculum vitae (please include all contact information and year of study). 

 

ACAM_V 330-001 – Understanding Asian Diasporic Health and Well-Being (Term 2, Mon/Wed, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm) 

Qualifications: Must be a current undergraduate or graduate student in ACAM, Psychology, Sociology, or other relevant disciplines in the Faculty of Arts. Applicants must demonstrate a good understanding in socio-cultural issues pertaining to Asian Canadian communities. Good communications and organizational skills are an asset. 

Duties: The TA may be required, at a minimum, to attend classes, lead discussions, hold office hours, and manage course Canvas page. 

Hours of work: The workload is around 12 hours per week, and the total number should not exceed 192 hours. Please note that the hours may vary from week to week depending on how the course is structured. 

Salary (as of Sept 1, 2024) 

  • U.T.A. I – $26.40 per hour 
  • U.T.A. II – $24.44 per hour 
  • G.T.A. I – $40.16 per hour 
  • G.T.A. II – $38.65 per hour 

Application: A letter of application and a curriculum vitae (please include all contact information and year of study). 

 

Deadline for applications is July 1, 2026 (11:59 PM). 

Please note that the delivery of all courses is subject to budget approval and course enrollment.

Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Métis, Inuit, or Indigenous person. 

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority. 

RECAP – The 2025 Fall Semester With ACAM Dialogues

What does it look like to create a community rooted in care? What does it look like for this community to centre ‘Asianness’? What does ‘Asianness’ even mean?

These are the questions we tried to address, or at least discuss, during the Asian Canadian and Asian Migration (ACAM) Dialogues’ first meeting of the 2025/26 school year. In October, our group of 12 cohort members and 3 facilitators came together for an evening of wonderful food (Banh Mi from Banh Mi Saigon) and connection. Coming from a range of different backgrounds, levels of studies, and geographies, we spent our time together intentionally imagining this year’s ACAM Dialogues cohort, and considering how to create a space that honoured our unique perspectives and shared values. 

Image of ACAM Dialogues 2025/26 community agreement quilt. Quilt squares are teal, light green, or bright orange, containing drawings or stitch-work of various designs outlining values of growth, support, and learning.

This thinking culminated in the creation of our ACAM Dialogues community agreement quilt. Each Dialogues member received a quilt square, on which they drew or embroidered symbols and words that represented their values and hopes for the space. For some, this meant imagery of flowers and mountains; for others, it meant lines of convergence and divergence. When these principles displayed on the individual squares were incorporated into the completed quilt, they create a tangible reminder of our collective commitments to one another, to ourselves, and to the space. While we exist as individuals, our community agreement quilt also reminds us of the transformative potentials that emerge as we come together. 

Building upon this foundation, we spent our November meeting engaging with our 2025/26 theme, “In Transit: Locating Asian Canadians in Vancouver”. This central idea asks us to consider what it means for Asian Canadians to exist—to make space for our communities, to take up space, to be obscured from space—on these lands colonially known as Vancouver. How are Asian Canadians simultaneously present and absent from this city’s narrative, and what does it mean for this presence to be situated on the ongoing occupation of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) lands? 

These were some of the core questions we took up during our November meeting. Thinking about how we situate diasporic Asian identity on a local, national, and global stage, we made mini balikbayan boxes, a practice rooted within the Filipino diasporic community where migrants send clothing, foodstuffs, and other remittances back to loved ones in the Philippines. 

Image contains fourteen mini balikbayan boxes made out of brown cardboard gathered atop a beige table. The boxes sit open and empty.

Over delicious Burmese food from Amay’s House, ACAM Dialogues discussed teachings from the Grant siblings and Alejandro Yoshizawa’s All Our Father’s Relations, Edwin T. Decenteceo’s “The Pagdadala Model in Counseling and Therapy”, and Sucheng Chan’s “Asian American Struggles for Civil, Political, Economic, and Social Rights”. Drawing from these materials, we considered the historical development of Asian positionality across the diaspora and its ongoing evolution.

Image contains a beige table scattered with craft items; balikbayan boxes in progress of being filled, coloured paper, glue sticks, and magazines.

From this positionality, what do we carry as individuals? What does the greater Asian diasporic community carry? How do we translate these metaphorical belongings into enacted responsibilities—and to whom are we responsible? We filled our balikbayan boxes in response to these questions, thinking with Decenteceo’s Pagdadala model to remember that we may carry these responsibilities, these ‘burdens’, not in resentment but in an expression of our care. As a collective and as individuals, we can transform our thinking to acknowledge our act of holding on as an act of intentional remembering; as an act of love. 

Image of four sushi platters on a grey table. Soy sauce packets, napkins, and chopsticks are next to the platters, along with a small container of edamame.

In December, we had our final meeting of the semester. We gathered over sushi platters from Sushi Taku for a film screening of Y-Dang Troeung and Alejandro Yoshizawa’s short film, “The Easter Epic”, paired with a discussion of The Missing Picture, a claymation documentary by Cambodian director and filmmaker Rithy Panh. Weaving in references to Crazy Rich Asians and Camp Rock, we discussed what it means to have Asian representation in media—for pop culture, for the Asian community, and for the historical record. Even more so, we considered what kinds of representation exist in the current moment, and why these kinds are not yet enough. 

Over the Fall semester, ACAM Dialogues was filled with learning, meaningful arts-based activities, and care. In the coming term, we are eager to continue our conversations by considering questions of queerness, racial capitalism, and space and displacement. Even further down the line, we are looking forward to welcoming the larger ACAM community (and beyond) for our public-facing event in April!

We would like to acknowledge that our work is taking place on the traditional, unceded, ancestral homelands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), and Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations. This year’s ACAM Dialogues is generously supported by the Quan Lee Excellence Fund for Asian Canadian & Asian Migration Studies.

ACAM320H

This summer course and field study allows students to conduct interdisciplinary academic research while exploring the histories, cultures, foodways, heritage, and geographies of Chinese migration around the Pacific, particularly migrations over the last 50 years to Richmond, BC. With field trips to Vancouver Chinatown and various sites in Richmond, students will explore themes including identity and belonging, food and cultural heritage, Asian migrants and Indigeneity, urban commercial landscapes, and cultural heritage.

Students will learn in traditional and non-traditional classroom settings locally to explore best practices in ethical community-based research, museum exhibitions and intergenerational and inter-community knowledge sharing to rethink the history of Vancouver, Richmond, BC, and the Pacific and learn about the intertwined histories of Chinese migrants from Hong Kong, Mainland China, SE Asia, and other parts of the globe. Students will be asked to create a project that will feed into the collaborative exhibition with the Richmond Museum by ACAM/ACRE on Richmond’s foodscape and how it reflects the demographic and historical changes over the last 60 years. Led by Professor Henry Yu (History; ACAM), this is an ideal opportunity for students looking for a short yet rewarding community-engaged research experience that leads into a museum exhibition. (And yes, we won’t just study food, we will also eat…)

In 2026S, ACAM_V 320-H_001 will be taught by Dr. Henry Yu, ACAM Affiliated Faculty and Professor in the Department of History.

Other featured ACAM courses