Faculty of ArtThe creation of the Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies Minor program was founded upon the successful UBC INSTRCC initiative, established by Prof. Henry Yu, Associate Professor of UBC’s Department of History and his student team. In 2007, UBC officially launched the Initiative for Student Teaching and Research in Chinese Canadian studies (INSTRCC). Built from the ground up by students over a three year period, INSTRCC was the first stage of a permanent commitment to teaching and research focused upon the role of Asian Canadians in the building of Pacific Canada. Supported by the commitment of its participating students, faculty, and community donors, INSTRCC focused on recovering the complex story of “Chinese Canada” as both a geographical concept–capturing the long-standing ties of the west coast of Canada with the Pacific region–and as a historical framework built from processes of migration and trade that have linked North America to Asia and the Pacific for hundreds of years.
INSTRCC was created to engage and empower students to conduct crucial and groundbreaking community-based research in Asian Canadian history relevant to the Asian Canadian community. In addition, INSTRCC seeks to give a voice to the stories and histories of Asian Canadians, their families, and their communities so future generations of Canadians and Asian Canadians will be aware of the rich and complex stories that make up integral aspects of Canadian history and identity. To achieve these aims, students are encouraged to use the latest digital technologies to distribute and create informative and engaging films, oral histories, family stories, websites, and databases that anyone can easily access to learn about the importance of Asian Canadians in Canada. Students have the opportunity to engage with what becomes, with every new project, an increasingly rich and complex history; to see that their stories are becoming officially recognized after having been overlooked for so long. INSTRCC students are connected to life experiences that make learning real. Each year, students are recruited to coordinate various film projects under the INSTRCC program.
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