Faculty of ArtPhebe is a student of Filipino heritage, graduating with a major in International Relations and minor in ACAM. Her research interests include studying migration policy, identity formation within Filipino diasporic communities, Indigenous-immigrant relations in Canada, and Philippine foreign relations. In line with these interests, Phebe ran a student-directed seminar this semester on the Filipino diaspora in Canada. She is also involved in the ACAM program as the Student Engagement Coordinator.
Mimi Nguyen (BA, Sociology)
As a daughter of two former refugees, Mimi Nguyen bears witness to the disconnect within her Việt Kiều community. She later pursued an education in Sociology to strengthen her understandings of the social constraints found in diasporic communities. In the middle of her degree, Mimi was fortunate enough to find home in ACAM where she has been able to incorporate her creativity with academia. She hopes to expand her work from ACAM to help build connections and provide forms of advocacy for her own and other diasporic communities.
Mary Chen (BFA, Creative Writing)
Mary Chen is a writer and artist of colour who lives and creates on unceded Coast Salish territories. Her writing has appeared in multiple Canadian literary magazines and in 2017 was anthologized in Currents: A Ricepaper Anthology. At UBC, she was heavily involved as the Editor-in-Chief of The Garden Statuary, the English department’s undergraduate literary journal, and also as the Editorial Assistant of Canadian Literature, Canada’s premier academic journal. In 2018, Mary graduated as a UBC Wesbrook Scholar with a BFA in Creative Writing (Major) and Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies (Minor). Find her work and get in touch with Mary at cymary.com.
Virginia Tina Ly (BA, English)
Virginia Tina Ly is graduating with a BA in English Literature and a minor Asian Canadian and Asian Migration studies. As the queer daughter of first generation refugees, she is intensely passionate about illuminating personal and community histories through research and videography. In 2017, she co-curated the exhibit “Tasting History: The Travelling Tales of Tea” at the Roedde House Museum in Vancouver, and has been the Publishing Assistant at the academic journal Pacific Affairs since 2016. Tina is excited to graduate and continue to pursue her passion in community storytelling.
Y Vy Truong (BA, English and History)
Y Vy Truong is graduating from the University of British Columbia (UBC) with a double major in English Literature and History, with a minor from the Asian Canadian Asian Migration (ACAM) program. Her research interests concern community archives as viable public research resources, contemporary art practices emerging from Asia and Asian diaspora communities in North America, and how those practices intersect with historical narratives and archival methods. She most recently collaborated on a large-scale project with Centre A (Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art), David Lam Centre for International Communication, and SFU’s Humanities Department to host the premiere of Trinh T. Minh-ha’s latest film Forgetting Vietnam (2016).
In 2016, Truong was awarded a Summer Fieldwork Grant from UBC’s Department of History under the supervision of Dr. Laura Ishiguro, and was recently the only Canadian to be awarded the inaugural Fellowship of Digital and Inclusive Excellence from the Association of Research Libraries (ARL)
Joanne Yuasa (BA, Religion, Literature, and Arts)
Joanne Yuasa is in her fourth year at UBC, majoring in Religion, Literature, and Arts, with a minor in Asian Canadian and Asian Migration. She is planning on furthering her education through a professional Masters program in Pastoral Studies in Toronto. She currently serves as an ordained priest of the Jodo Shin school of Buddhism, and her goal is to work as a chaplain and mental health therapist, offering care from a Buddhist approach. She is particularly grateful for the opportunity to have taken ACAM 320 “History and Legacy of the Japanese Canadian Internment,” in which instructor-elders Mary and Tosh Kitagawa along with Dr. John Price have opened her eyes, mind, and heart to the nuances, and responsibilities of being a Japanese Canadian.
Jane Shi (BA, English, Honours)
Jane Shi is a Chinese settler who grew up on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sel̓íl̓witulh (Tseil-Waututh), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) peoples, along with the territories of the Tsawwassen and Stó:lō peoples. Hailing from the islands and mountains of 浙江 (Zhejiang), she was raised on yangmei, quail eggs, and salted water ducks. She is grateful that ACAM gave her the opportunity to make short films with community members. After graduating, she plans to continue editing, writing poetry, and pouring too much vinegar on her jiaozi.
Christina Lee (BA, Geography)
Christina is a third-generation member of the Cantonese (開平/台山) diaspora, born and raised on the unceded, occupied, and ancestral territories of the Coast Salish peoples. A lifelong learner, Christina has found her academic home in Human Geography and Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies, combining her passions for community and urban spaces, specifically those that intersect with her family history. Inspired by feminist geographies, Christina is working towards a future in creating inclusive, equitable, and sustainable communities. Currently, her interests include: multiculturalism, identity reclamation, and the public education system. When she does not have her nose buried in research, you can find her taking photographs, on the soccer pitch, or admiring dogs passing by.
Alumni Feature: Angela He
Angela He is a second-generation Chinese-Canadian with familial roots that extend to China, Hong Kong, and Myanmar. Growing up in the richly diverse neighbourhood of East Vancouver, Angela has always had an interest in how im/migrants contribute to the development and character of neighbourhoods and cities. She graduated from UBC with a major in International Relations, and a minor in Asian Canadian Migration studies. Through ACAM, Angela was able to get involved with the community and meet an incredible network of people. Following her undergrad degree, she did revitalization work in Vancouver’s Chinatown, and explored issues involving gentrification and real estate development. She also worked with im/migrant sex workers, assisting them with accessing healthcare, legal information, and other community services. Angela is now working towards her Juris Doctor at Western Law with plans to practice immigration law, and dearly misses Vancouver’s incredible Asian food scene.
Tell us a little bit about yourself. What led you to learn about the ACAM program, and why did you decide to minor in it?
I first decided to take Professor Henry Yu’s Asian Migrations to the Americas class in the 3rd year of my undergrad. I was lucky that it happened to be on the course list for my major, International Relations – the syllabus seemed relevant to myself and different from anything else that I had seen at UBC, so I decided to take it. After a positive experience in that class, I decided to enroll in the Go Global course to Hong Kong, and other subsequent courses relevant to Asia-Pacific relations. Given the nature of my major, I later discovered that several of my courses slotted into the ACAM major requirements, and that I qualified for the minor program!
Did minoring in the ACAM program help you in your professional and personal endeavours after graduation?
The ACAM community is an intimate and welcoming community that has been incredibly supportive of both my professional and personal endeavours. Since the beginning of my undergrad, I had wanted to become more involved with the community, but did not know how or where to begin – ACAM connected me with the proper resources to do so, and linked me to people and organizations who were more than eager to involve me. By helping me hone in and understand not only my personal interests, but also aspects of my identity as a Chinese-Canadian, I became more aware of how I wanted to develop professionally. The ACAM network was more than happy to connect me to relevant professionals, and also helped me in finding job opportunities after graduation.
Did you find a career after your undergrad degree that was connected to ACAM themes or program values? If so, what was it and how did you know about this opportunity? If not, did the program help in indirect ways?
After ACAM, I discovered that I was interested in immigration policy, immigrant communities and immigration law. The way that groups of moving people impacted the development of cities and neighbourhoods interested me, and I wanted to be a part of facilitating the growth of cities through immigration. After my undergrad, I worked with immigrant and migrant sex workers; following this, I did revitalization work in Vancouver’s Chinatown. Since then, I have gone back to school and am currently pursuing my law degree, aspiring to practice immigration law.
Looking back, what are the most memorable ACAM moments you experienced? What were some of your favourite classes, and/or who were your favourite professors?
My favourite class was definitely Asian Migrations to the Americas class with Professor Henry Yu. We discussed topics such as Asian masculinity, Western beauty standards, stereotyping, fetishization of Asian women, and the model minority myth – it was so different from my other classes, in that we were discussing things that actually affected me in my daily life. We were also asked to create short videos instead of writing papers, which allowed me to learn a new skill.
I can recall an “a-ha!” moment for me in that class – when discussing portrayals of Asian masculinity in Hollywood, Prof Yu recalled a scene from the movie, Romeo Must Die, where it appears that Aaliyah is just about to kiss Jet Li after he saves her life. At the very last moment, she turns her head, and would have been a kiss in any other movie becomes a friendly hug. As Prof Yu described the scene, I literally replayed the exact scene in my mind. I could recall the exact moment I watched the movie when I was 6 years old, and the same confusion I felt when I was a young child – why didn’t they kiss? Since people decide to do the ACAM major fully aware of who they are as an Asian-Canadian, or what exactly it means for them to be an Asian-Canadian. I was not amongst those people, and had never really thought about my identity before this class – but at that moment, I realized that even at 6 years old, I was able to subconsciously recognize that there was a difference in how Hollywood treated Jet Li. But before ACAM, I felt no reason to dig any deeper. For me, the class really taught me to more critically examine what exactly it meant to grow up as an Asian-Canadian, and understand my personal experiences as a result of my identity.
Would you like to share additional insights for current students in the program about life after graduation?
Having a support network is invaluable, and you have a lot to gain from being supported by others, and being there to support others. Thanks ACAM for everything!
Yoichi Kato (1921-2018)
The faculty, staff and students of the Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies Program are deeply saddened by the recent passing of Yoichi Kato. Mr. Kato was one of the 76 Japanese Canadian students forcibly removed in 1942. We express our deepest condolences to the Kato family.
While Mr. Kato did not attend the 2012 convocation at UBC for the Japanese Canadian students of 1942, we are grateful to him for helping establish the ACAM program so that the injustices of the past would never be forgotten.
Mr. Kato’s biography can be found in the Degree of Justice Yearbook:
