The Asian Studies Department

Founded in 1961, UBC’s Asian Studies Department is the flagship Asian Studies department in Canada, and is widely acknowledged as one of the very finest in North America.

It has grown since its inception, and explosively so during the 1980s and 1990s, reflecting the demographic shifts of Greater Vancouver. Today, the department receives a total of over 7,000 course enrolments each academic year and records in excess of 1,000 students per year on waitlists.

UBC Asian Studies offers:

• Two undergraduate Majors (Asian Area Studies; Asian Languages and Cultures), and graduate programs at both the MA and PhD level.
• Courses covering the pre-modern and modern literature, history, philosophy and religion of China, Japan, India, Korea and Indonesia.
• Language courses encompassing the classical, modern, written and conversational forms. While peer universities in North America or Europe might offer instruction in Chinese, Japanese, and perhaps Korean, UBC Asian Studies also offers Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit, Punjabi and Indonesian.
• The largest and—in terms of issues related to heritage language learning—most complex programs in Chinese and Japanese language in North America, with almost 4,000 course enrolments between the two.
• Superb research and teaching links to universities, ministries of education, consulate generals, and foundations throughout Asia, and service to constituencies both inside and outside Canada with interest in the cultures and societies of the region. Examples include the Japanese Speech Contest (with the Japanese Consulate-General in Vancouver).
• Service as an academic department to the Asian communities of Greater Vancouver and the province, as a venue where community members can access and fruitfully experience their own and other Asian heritage.

Funding Projects:

• Academic positions (Lectureships). Examples include an endowed 12-month lecturer position in Korean language, an endowed 12-month lecturer position in Punjabi language, and an endowed 12-month lecturer position in Hindi/Sanskrit language.
• Student awards (fellowships, scholarships, bursaries and prizes). Examples include the Asa Johal Fellowship, Gregory Tso Memorial Scholarship, and Universal Buddhist Temple Graduate Scholarship.

To find out how you can support the Asian Studies Department, please contact Emily Williams or call 604.822.3812.

For more information about the department please click here.