Faculty of Art
Cari is a second-generation Chinese Canadian born and raised on the unceded and ancestral territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations. She is in the B+MM Dual Degree program and just completed a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Asian Area Studies and minoring in ACAM, and will be continuing her studies at the UBC Sauder School of Business in the Master of Management program. After participating in a global seminar with ACAM 390A in the summer of 2023 which brought her to multiple cities in Asia, she decided to get more involved with the ACAM community, which included joining the UBC Initiative for Student Teaching and Research in Chinese Canadian Studies (INSTRCC) as a student research assistant. Other than the academic work Cari was involved in, she was an avid dancer, spending much of her time in the studio and being a part of the dance community at UBC.
What is a favourite memory or story you have from ACAM?
Even before I joined UBC, I remember one of my co-workers at the time telling me about a class called ACAM 390A where her friends got to travel to ASIA as a part of a class. As a grade 11 student at the time, I was very intrigued but did not look into it too much, especially since COVID-19 hit in my first year and the ACAM 390A was rearranged to be online/within BC. In my third year, after taking my first ACAM course, the course was brought to my attention once again and they were travelling to Hong Kong, Penang, Malacca, and Singapore. Since my family is from Hong Kong, and I had never been to the other 3 cities, it definitely caught my attention and I quickly applied. ACAM 390A is definitely one of the most exciting experiences I have had during my time at UBC, and I’m grateful to all the friends I made on the trip which made it even more memorable.
Name an ACAM faculty whose class had a significant impact on you and share why.
My first experience with ACAM at UBC was in ACAM 300: Dis/Orienting Asian Canada with Professor Laura Ishiguro in my third year. This class was so special in the way that we learned in such a different way than any other course I had taken thus far – it focused on in-depth discussion in small groups rather than just copying down lecture notes for the sake of memorizing history, and I learned so many new things about Vancouver and Canada despite having grown up and lived here all my life. From here, every other ACAM course I have taken has followed a similar fashion where our learning does not simply come from lecture slides and academic journal reading, but from thoughtful discussion between peers – something which I’ve really enjoyed and looked forward to.
Have you completed any projects through or related to an ACAM course?
After taking ACAM 390A led by Dr. Henry Yu, he brought me onto the UBC INSTRCC team as a research assistant, matching me with a community project with another ACAM alumni. Together, and in partnership with the Pacific Canada Heritage Centre – Museum of Migration (PCHC-MOM), we gathered stories from several immigrants in BC to share the untold IBPOC migration stories reflecting BC’s diversity over 50 years as a part of the Heritage BC’s 150 Time Immemorial Grant Program. This project is still in the works at this time of writing, but keep a look out for further updates from PCHC as the online exhibition is to be released this year!
