Ch’ae Manshik is one of the most accomplished modern Korean writers yet is underrepresented in English translation because of the challenges posed by his distinctive voice and colloquial style. Sunset: A Ch’ae Manshik Reader is the first English-language anthology of his works and features a variety of genres—novella, short fiction, anecdotal essay, travel writing, children’s story, one-act play, three-act play, and roundtable discussion.
This anthology moves beyond the usual “representative works” to provide a well-rounded selection of writing by one of Korea’s most innovative and memorable voices, drawing on Ch’ae’s ten-volume Complete Works. This edition also provides a comprehensive introduction outlining the limitations of existing approaches to Ch’ae. It contextualizes the anthology’s contents both in terms of the author’s career and the rich Korean tradition of intertextuality and intermediality that he reflects from the country’s earliest times to the new millennium.
Publication title:Where Research Begins: Choosing a Research Project That Matters to You (and the World)
Publication year: 2022
Authors: Thomas S. Mullaney and Christopher Rea
About the book
Plenty of books tell you how to do research. This book helps you figure out WHAT to research in the first place, and why it matters.
The hardest part of research isn’t answering a question. It’s knowing what to do before you know what your question is. Where Research Begins tackles the two challenges every researcher faces with every new project: How do I find a compelling problem to investigate—one that truly matters to me, deeply and personally? How do I then design my research project so that the results will matter to anyone else?
This book will help you start your new research project the right way for you with a series of simple yet ingenious exercises. Written in a conversational style and packed with real-world examples, this easy-to-follow workbook offers an engaging guide to finding research inspiration within yourself, and in the broader world of ideas.
Read this book if you (or your students):
have difficulty choosing a research topic
know your topic, but are unsure how to turn it into a research project
feel intimidated by or unqualified to do research
worry that you’re asking the wrong questions about your research topic
have plenty of good ideas, but aren’t sure which one to commit to
feel like your research topic was imposed by someone else
want to learn new ways to think about how to do research.
Under the expert guidance of award-winning researchers Thomas S. Mullaney and Christopher Rea, you will find yourself on the path to a compelling and meaningful research project, one that matters to you—and the world.
For more information, online classes, webinars, and other materials related to the book, see the Where Research Begins website.
Asian Horror Cinema: National Nightmares and Specters of Trauma
ASIA 308
Myth, Ritual and Epic in Ancient India
ASIA 309
South Asian Beyond South Asia
ASIA 311
Tibetan Buddhism
ASIA 313
Tibetan and Himalayan Culture and Society
ASIA 315
Japan from Feudal to Modern State
ASIA 316
Race and Ethnicity in Japanese Literature and Film
ASIA 319
Contemporary Chinese Popular Cultures
ASIA 320
History of Early China
ASIA 324
Literature of Hong Kong
ASIA 325
Hong Kong Cinema
ASIA 326
Critical Approaches to Manga and Anime
ASIA 327
Korean Popular Music in Context
ASIA 328
Modern Islam
ASIA 333
Contemporary South Asian Gender and Sexuality Studies
ASIA 334
Writing Women in Premodern East Asia
ASIA 336
Sufi and Bhakti Devotional Literatures
ASIA 342
Chinese Literature in Translation: The Vernacular Tradition
ASIA 347
Traditional Korean Literature in Translation
ASIA 348
Great Literary Works of Classical India in Translation
ASIA 349
Southeast Asian Literature in Translation
ASIA 353
Intro to Hindi Film
ASIA 354
Intro to Japanese Cinema
ASIA 355
Chinese Cinema
ASIA 356
Korean Cinema
ASIA 357
Modern Korean Fiction in Translation
ASIA 360
A Specific Asian Literature in Translation
ASIA 363
Fiction and Film from Modern Taiwan
ASIA 366
Topics in Asian Studies
ASIA 371
Foundations of Chinese thought
ASIA 372
Development of Traditional Chinese Thought
ASIA 373
History of Hong Kong
ASIA 375
Global Chinese Cinemas
ASIA 382
Buddhism in China
ASIA 386
Chinese Grammar and Usage I
ASIA 387
Japanese Religions
ASIA 390
History of the Indian Ocean World
ASIA 391
Classical Islam
ASIA 392
Classical Persian Literature in English Translation
ASIA 396
Chinese Grammar and Usage II
ASIA 398
Narrative Literature in Premodern India
ASIA 399
Films of the South Asian Diaspora
ASIA 410
International Relations in Premodern East Asia
ASIA 413
Pre-Modern Chinese Poetry (Tang to Qing)
ASIA 419
Economic HIstory of India
ASIA 433
The Cinematic Lives of Muslims in South Asia
ASIA 441
Masterworks of Chinese Fiction and Drama in Translation
ASIA 442
Lives of Chinese Books
ASIA 444
Topics in Modern Japanese Fiction and Cultural History
ASIA 453
Japanese Travel Literature
ASIA 464
Japanese Women's Self-Writing
ASIA 465
Japanese Horror
ASIA 490
Asian Classics - Fourth Year Seminar
ASIA 495
Folk Cultures in the Asian Diaspora
ASIA 498
Asia and the Museological Imagination
ASIX 300
Topics in Asian Studies Crossings
ASIX 383
What is Modern Arabic?
ASTU 201
Canada, Japan and the Pacific: Cultural Studies
ASTU 202
Canada, Japan and the Pacific: Political, Economic and Geographical Perspectives
CDST 250
Introduction to Canada
Please note the course list is not comprehensive (in terms of not listing language courses, but also more generally), and is an estimate at the time of this posting. TAships are created on an enrolment basis; many of these courses will not receive TAs. The application form does not restrict applications to the contents of this list.
Required qualifications:
High level of fluency in the language/subject to be taught
Ability to prepare teaching materials
Training or previous experience in language teaching in the relevant language desirable
Period of Employment:
Term 1: September 1 – December 31, 2025
Term 2: January 1 – April 30, 2026
NOTE: All teaching assistantships for the 2025 Winter session will be 192 hours per course unless otherwise noted.
General nature of the duties:
Preparation of and instruction in the language laboratory, discussion periods, tutorial sessions, review sessions and lectures; teaching; keeping class records; setting, marking and providing feedback on examinations, tests and assignments; holding office hours; invigilating exams and assisting instructors to conduct oral exams; management and maintenance of a website and Canvas; duplicating materials; ordering and obtaining AV equipment; demonstrating procedures or setting up demonstrations.
Current salary (as of September, 2024 – likely to increase in September, 2025):
Graduate Teaching Assistant I (Doctoral) or equivalent
$40.16/hour
Graduate Teaching Assistant II (Masters) or equivalent
Please note that generally it is impossible to make firm decisions about appointments until the enrollments are known at the end of the registration period.
Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person.
The Department of Asian Studies stands in solidarity with our students impacted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We condemn this attack and the profound violence and trauma it has caused. As scholars committed to studying and teaching the interconnected histories, languages, and cultures of Asia and beyond we denounce all forms of aggression and imperial expansion. Let us read, learn, and act as we stand for Ukrainian sovereignty and against disinformation. We are grateful to the students and colleagues in the UBC community who are educating us in how best to call for justice and peace, including the resources below.
The Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, invites applications for a lecturer position in Cantonese language and culture, to commence on September 1, 2022. This is a full-time, non-tenure-track position for an initial term of up to three years (of which the first year is probational). The position is renewable for successive terms, subject to availability of funds and demonstration of excellence in teaching and service, in accordance with the Collective Agreement between UBC and the UBC Faculty Association.
We seek an exceptional teacher of Cantonese language and culture with expertise in language instruction from basic to advanced level for both heritage and non-heritage learners. The successful candidate will teach a total of 24 credits (eight 3-credit equivalent courses) per year, the majority of which will be for courses on Cantonese language while the rest will be for courses, taught in Cantonese or English, on aspects of the languages, culture, or history of the Cantonese-speaking world that are aligned with the candidate’s teaching interests. The successful candidate will also be expected to assist in the administration and development of UBC’s highly regarded Cantonese language program.
Requirements for candidates include: full professional proficiency in Cantonese and English, as well as university-level competency in Mandarin; a Ph.D. degree in Cantonese/Chinese Linguistics, Second Language Education/Acquisition/ Pedagogy, Applied Linguistics, or a related field; evidence of excellent teaching of Cantonese and/or Mandarin at the post-secondary level in an anglophone university; evidence of teaching innovations for both language and content courses; experience in online teaching and innovative use of technology in language instruction; knowledge of current developments in language pedagogy and curriculum design; experience with language-proficiency assessment and language-placement practice; and a strong record of participation in teamwork and contributions to program development. The successful candidate will be expected to maintain an excellent record of teaching and service as well as to work collaboratively with other instructors on curriculum design, development of instructional materials, and related programming matters.
The Lecturer in Cantonese Language and Culture will join a department (asia.ubc.ca) with a stellar reputation for its teaching and research of Asia as well as a vibrant community of teacher-scholars associated with the UBC Cantonese Language Program (cantonese.arts.ubc.ca) and the UBC Hong Kong Studies Initiative (hksi.ubc.ca).
This position is subject to final budgetary approval. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.
Applicants should be prepared to upload the following in the order listed (in a single PDF file):
An application letter that includes a statement of teaching philosophy and interests;
A curriculum vitae;
Link to a sample language teaching video (please upload demonstration to YouTube as an unlisted video);
Lesson plan for the content shown in the sample teaching video;
Other evidence of teaching effectiveness (such as teaching evaluations, course syllabi, sample assignments/assessments/teaching activities, etc.);
A one-page statement about the applicant’s experience relevant to working with a diverse student body as well as their contributions (or potential contributions) to creating and advancing a culture of equity and inclusion;
Names and contact information of three referees who could provide confidential letters of recommendation should the candidate be long- or short-listed.
Complete applications received on or before April 18, 2022, will be given priority consideration. Application materials should be submitted online at http://asia.ubc.ca/careers. Applicants with questions about the position are welcome to contact Dr. Leo K. Shin, Chair, Search Committee, at Leo.Shin@ubc.ca.
Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Métis, Inuit, or Indigenous person. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.
Given the uncertainty caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, applicants must be prepared to conduct interviews remotely if circumstances require. A successful applicant may be asked to consider an offer containing a deadline without having been able to make an in-person visit to campus if travel and other restrictions are still in place.
Publication title:AnIntellectual History of China, Volume One: Knowledge, Thought, and Belief before the Seventh Century CE
Publication year: 2014
Author: Translated by Michael S. Duke and Josephine Chiu-Duke
About the book
In An Intellectual History of China, Professor Ge Zhaoguang presents a history of traditional Chinese knowledge, thought and belief to the late six century CE with a new approach offering a new perspective. It appropriates a wide range of source materials and emphasizes the necessity of understanding ideas and thought in their proper historical contexts. Its analytical narrative focuses on the dialectical interaction between historical background and intellectual thought. While discussing the complex dynamics of interaction among the intellectual thought of elite Chinese scholars, their historical conditions, their canonical texts and the “worlds of general knowledge, thought and belief,” it also illuminates the significance of key issues such as the formation of the Chinese world order and its underlying value system, the origins of Chinese cultural identity and foreign influences.
Publication title:An Intellectual History of China, Volume Two: Knowledge, Thought and Belief From the Seventh Through the Nineteenth Century
Publication year: 2018
Author: Translated by Josephine Chiu-Duke and Michael S. Duke
About the book
A history of traditional Chinese knowledge, thought and belief from the seventh through the nineteenth centuries with a new approach that offers a new perspective. It appropriates a wide range of source materials and emphasizes the necessity of understanding ideas and thought in their proper historical contexts. Its analytical narrative focuses on the dialectical interaction between historical background and intellectual thought. While discussing the complex dynamics of interaction among the intellectual thought of elite Chinese scholars, their historical conditions, their canonical texts and the “worlds of general knowledge, thought and belief,” it also illuminates the significance of key issues such as the formation of the Chinese world order and its underlying value system, the origins of Chinese cultural identity, foreign influences, and the collapse of the Chinese world order in the 19th century leading toward the revolutionary events of the 20th century.
Publication title:Raise the Red Lantern: Three Novellas
Publication year: 1993
Author: by Su Tong and Translated by Michael S. Duke
About the book
The brutal realities of the dark places Su Tong depicts in this collection of novellas set in 1930s provincial China — worlds of prostitution, poverty, and drug addiction — belie his prose of stunning and simplebeauty. The title novella, “Raise the Red Lantern,” which became a critically acclaimed film, tells the story of Lotus, a young woman whose father’s suicide forces her to become the concubine of a wealthy merchant. Crushed by loneliness, despair, and cruel treatment, Lotus finds her descent into insanity both a weapon and a refuge.
“Nineteen Thirty-Four Escapes” is an account of a family’s struggles during one momentous year; plagued by disease, death, and the shady promise of life in a larger town, the family slowly disintegrates.
Finally, “Opium Family” details the last years of a landowning clan whose demise is brought about by corruption, lust, and treachery — fruits of the insidious crop they harvest.
Publication title: Coloniality and Racial (In)Justice in the University: Counting for Nothing?
Publication year: 2021
Editor: Sunera Thobani
About the book
Coloniality and Racial (In)Justice in the University examines the disruption and remaking of the university at a moment in history when white supremacist politics have erupted across North America, as have anti-racist and anti-colonial movements. Situating the university at the heart of these momentous developments, this collection debunks the popular claim that the university is well on its way to overcoming its histories of racial exclusion.
Written by faculty and students located at various levels within the institutional hierarchy, this book demonstrates how the shadows of settler colonialism and racial division are reiterated in “newer” neoliberal practices. Drawing on critical race and Indigenous theory, the chapters challenge Eurocentric knowledge, institutional whiteness, and structural discrimination that are the bedrock of the institution.
The authors also analyze their own experiences to show how Indigenous dispossession, racial violence, administrative prejudice, and imperialist militarization shape classroom interactions within the university.
Publication title:Doing Ethnography in the Wake of the Displacement of Transnational Sex Workers in Yokohama
Publication year: 2021
Author: Ayaka Yoshimizu
About the book
Doing Ethnography in the Wake of the Displacement of Transnational Sex Workers in Yokohama reflects on the politics, poetics, and ethics of remembering the lives of transnational migrant sex workers in postcolonial Japan. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in the port city of Yokohama, the book focuses on the “water trade” in the Koganecho neighbourhood where exploitative and stigmatised labour took place, involving sexual services performed by migrant women. In recent years the city has sought to rebrand Koganecho, evicting transnational migrant sex workers who had been integral to postindustrial development and erasing their past presence. The author explores Yokohama’s memoryscapes in the aftermath of displacement through embodied knowledge, engaging her senses and ethics as a colonizer-researcher as she navigates the elusive past through traces that remain in the present. She examines the city’s built environment, official historical narratives, films, and photographic works. With few brothels and workers remaining, Yoshimizu fills the gap with her own interactions, encounters, and imaginings. Yoshimizu also writes through the imagery of water in ways that are informed by the local usage and imaginations—the ocean, flowing rivers, swamps, humidity, alcohol, the fluidity of relationships, and transient lives. The water also offers a way to sense the “ghost”, or the displaced lives and the effects of displacement, that, like humid air, stick to those who occupy or inhabit the site of displacement today. This interdisciplinary work makes a valuable contribution to sensory studies, memory studies, migration studies, and Asian studies.
