Faculty of ArtKathy Thai is graduating with a B.A. in English Literature and minor in Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies. Throughout her degree, Kathy was able to explore the ways in which languages, histories, and personal identities influence and propel creative efforts such as storytelling, film, and design. She is grateful to have been a part of the ACAM program, which has given her the opportunity to not only learn about diasporic history in theory, but also through personal and community-based projects resulting in the creation of several short films. Most of these films are concerned with Vietnamese diasporic identity/politics/life as settlers on the unceded, occupied, and ancestral territories of the Coast Salish peoples (Vancouver). Intent on incorporating all she has learned into her future endeavours, Kathy hopes to continue to learn and improve the lives of others — especially those who have, for whatever reason, felt lost.
Elliott Cheung (BA, Asian Language and Culture, Honours)
Elliott Y.N. Cheung (張依諾), a 1.5-generation Hong Kong Canadian, is graduating this year with a B.A. Hons. in Asian Language and Culture (Japan) with a minor in ACAM. He credits his father with his interest in Sinophone cultures, his love of philology, and his passion for Asian Canadian advocacy and structural reform. His long-term research interests include the ideological and linguistic apparatus of Japanese colonialism, namely in Taiwan; popular culture and identity formation; and the expression of Asian Canadian experiences through intersections of dance, music, and film. Some highlights from his time at UBC include speaking at a Cantonese-language radio forum on the 2018 pro rep referendum for AM1320 CHMB, co-organizing a contemporary dance fundraiser showcase for the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, and meeting such inspiring figures as Simu Liu, Omar El Akkad, and Alex Chow through ACAM and the Hong Kong Studies Initiative. After graduation, Elliott seeks to expand his experiences in Taiwan and Singapore in the fields of social activism and cultural / creative industries.
Kimberley Wong (BA, Geography)
Kimberley Wong is a queer Cantonese diasporic woman whose work mirrors the intersections of her identity, as a fifth generation settler on unceded Coast Salish lands. She feels re-energized when walking through the avenues of Chinatown, in the footsteps of her ancestors and elders. Kimberley focused her studies on understanding the lives and migration patterns of her matriarchal ancestors from Hoisan County. Her most recent curiosities examine the history of her grandfather, 黄傑群, and his role in the golden age of Cantonese Opera culture in Vancouver’s Chinatown. As someone whose ancestors were also Canadian Pacific Railway workers, and subject to the Chinese Head Tax, she is finding ways to bridge her training in urban geography and feminist theory with historic and contemporary experiences of racism, sexism, and homophobia.
Leilan Wong (BA, Gender, Race, Sexuality & Social Justice)
Leilan Wong is a mixed-race UBC student of Cantonese, Irish and English descent, living, working and learning on the ancestral and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sel̓íl̓witulh (Tseil-Waututh), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) peoples. Leilan majored in Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice with a minor in Asian Canadian and Asian Migration. Through her studies at UBC, Leilan dedicates her studies to critiquing the systems of power and oppression that shape the world we live in. Leilan’s studies focus on Canada’s investment in a white Canada through historical and contemporary state sanctioned dispossession of Indigenous Peoples, as well as Canada’s continued endorsement of anti-immigration and racially discriminatory practices. After graduating, Leilan plans to continue her studies as a Masters student in the department of English Language & Literatures at UBC with a focus on Cantonese Canadian ghosts and hauntings.
Wallenberg-Sugihara Civil Courage Society honours Mary Kitagawa
A Crusader for Human Rights
Vancouver-based Wallenberg-Sugihara Civil Courage Society honours Mary Kitagawa
On January 20, the Vancouver-based Wallenberg-Sugihara Civil Courage Society will present the 2019 Wallenberg-Sugihara Civil Courage Award to Mary Kitagawa, who raised awareness of the injustices suffered by Japanese-Canadian students during the Second World War. Among other things, her fight against discrimination resulted in the University of British Columbia, in 2012, granting honorary degrees to 76 students who were interned before they were able to finish their degrees.
Kitagawa received the Order of British Columbia last fall. The educator is described as a “crusader for human rights who has helped dismantle society’s systems of racial apartheid and legalized discrimination, create a more inclusive and just world, and demonstrate it is never too late to make right a wrong.”
The OBC website notes, “Kitagawa and her family were among the more than 22,000 Canadians of Japanese descent incarcerated during the Second World War. As a result of the injustices her family endured, she became an advocate for human rights, maintaining a sustained focus to raise the problem of injustice due to racism and intolerance.
“She continues to advocate for the inclusion of curriculum about the incarceration in elementary and high schools and is a member of the Community Council of the Landscapes of Injustice, a University of Victoria project which is recovering documents related to the confiscation and disposal of Japanese Canadian properties.”
For more information on Kitagawa’s work check the Order of British Columbia website.
The Wallenberg-Sugihara Civil Courage Award is given annually to an individual associated with British Columbia who at significant personal risk helped to improve the lives of others while defying unjust laws or norms, past or present. It pays tribute to courageous actions by diplomats Raoul Wallenberg of Sweden and Chiune Sugihara of Japan. During the Second World War, they engaged in selfless acts of civil courage, at grave risk to themselves, their families and their future, to rescue Jews during the Holocaust. Their stories inspire Canadians to act with courage and live by their moral values.
This year’s event and reception will be held at the MacMillan Space Centre on Jan.20, 1:30 p.m. In addition to remarks from Kitagawa, it will include a screening of the feature film The War Between Us, which dramatizes the interaction between Japanese internees and their neighbours in the B.C. Interior during the Second World War.
Entrance is free; donations are appreciated. For more information, visit wsccs.ca.
Alice Kudo (1924-2018)
The faculty, staff and students of the Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies Program are deeply saddened by the passing of Alice Kudo on September 7, 2018. Ms. Kudo was one of the 76 Japanese Canadian students at UBC who were forcibly removed in 1942. Ms. Kudo and her family relocated to Southern Alberta during the war. She would go on to study at Queen’s University and the Universite de Montreal, and had a long career as a librarian and editor.
Ms. Kudo’s biography can be found in the Degree of Justice Yearbook:
ACAM would like to extend our sincere condolences to Ms. Kudo’s family and friends. She is deeply missed.
Minoru Yatabe (1922-2018)
The faculty, staff and students of the Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies Program are deeply saddened by the passing of Minoru Yatabe on October 12, 2018. Mr. Yatabe was one of the 76 Japanese Canadian students at UBC who were forcibly removed in 1942. After Japanese Canadians were forcibly removed from the West Coast, he moved to Ontario. In 1945, he became one of the first Japanese Canadians to enlist in the Canadian military and would later settle in Toronto. He received the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in 2013.
Mr. Yatabe’s biography can be found in the Degree of Justice Yearbook:
ACAM would like to extend our sincere condolences to Mr. Yatabe’s family and friends. He is deeply missed.
ENGL480: Asian Canadian and/or Asian Transnational Studies
Chinatown Crossroads
By Yilin Shen
Chinatown in a Snap
By Ashley (Wen Chun) Chien, Jia Faner, and Kacey Ng
Georgia Street Towards Chinatown
By Charmaine Anne Li, Sylvia Leung, and Wendy Li
– stasis
By Julia Escaño, Mary Chen, and Tina Ly
The Pool: Japanese Canadian Internment at Hastings Park
By Cassandra Olivas, Chen-Yi (Helena) Zhang, and Matthew Inouye
Untitled
By Rachel Lin and Yvonne Sun
Walking By
By Charissa Wong, Joriella Pablo, and Victoria Moon
You Are Now Entering/Leaving Chinatown
By Jennifer (Jenny) Lu, Miranda Choo, and Olivia Lim
FIPR469A: Asian Canadian Film Production (2014)
Radicalizing Intimacy
By Stephanie Fung and Joanna D. Yang
How do multiple identities (Canadian, youth, Asian, queer) intersect and shape the way we navigate our world? This short film documentary explores how six queer Asian Canadian youth redefine and radicalize the concept of intimacy. Various types of intimacy that defy heteronormative values suggest that seemingly “concrete” notions of closeness and identity are not so straightforward after all.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zRiDFBX6Uw[/youtube]
From Chopsticks to Hockey Sticks
By Josie Chow
Beginning with the personal story of the documentarian, this film expands to explore the challenges of playing hockey in Asia, and the impacts of cultural differences on the game.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwhOeYRvR6s[/youtube]
