Postdoctoral Fellows
Chui-Joe Tham
Chui-Joe Tham
Postdoctoral Fellow | Early Modern China, Japan, and Korea
emailchuijoe.tham@ubc.ca
Research Area
Asian StudiesChui-Joe Tham is a historian of historical writing in East Asia between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Her research interests center on the transnational intellectual connections between polities in East Asia, and the global early modern history of knowledge-production more broadly.
Ch...Read more
Research Area
Asian StudiesTeaching Faculty
Adheesh Sathaye
Adheesh Sathaye
Associate Professor | Sanskrit Literature and Folklore
phone604 822 5188
location_onAsian Centre 408
Research Area
SanskritMajor research interests:
Currently researching early medieval Sanskrit drama, aesthetics, and narrative literature. Doctoral research involved the Sanskrit epics, Marathi devotional performance traditions, and theories of textual production, performance, and folkloristics. Other interests include ...Read more
Research Area
Sanskrit
Ai Yamamoto
Ai Yamamoto
Sessional Lecturer | PhD Candidate
emailai.yamamoto@ubc.ca
Ai Yamamoto is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia. Her research is on modern and contemporary Japanese literature and culture. She is interested in relationships between girls' culture, war, and the subject formation of women writers.
Alexandra Hoffmann
Alexandra Hoffmann
Assistant Professor | Classical Persian Literature
Research Area
PersianI am a scholar of Classical Persian Literature interested in gender & sexuality, embodiment, the history of emotions, and race/ethnicity in premodern Persianate literature and Perso-Islamicate culture.
Research Area
Persian
Aya Yamakawa
Aya Yamakawa is a Lecturer of Japanese Language and holds an M.A. in Education from Earlham College in the United States. She has taught Japanese language and culture in the United States, Japan, Australia, India and Israel. Her teaching and research interests include queer pedagogy, intercultural c...Read more
Research Area
Japanese
ON LEAVE
September 1, 2025 – August 31, 2026
Ayaka Yoshimizu
Ayaka Yoshimizu
ON LEAVE
September 1, 2025 – August 31, 2026
Associate Professor of Teaching
location_onC.K. Choi Building 180
Research Area
Asian Diaspora StudiesAyaka Yoshimizu is an Associate Professor of Teaching at the Department of Asian Studies. She also teaches and coordinates Arts courses for the UBC-Ritsumeikan Exchange Programs. Ayaka teaches courses on transpacific histories and cultures, Indigeneities in Asia and Asian diaspora, and anti-colonial...Read more
Research Area
Asian Diaspora Studies
ON LEAVE
July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027
Aynur Kadir
Aynur Kadir
ON LEAVE
July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027
Assistant Professor | Lifeways in Indigenous Asia
emailaynur.kadir@ubc.ca
location_onC.K. Choi Building 178
Research Area
Lifeways in Indigenous AsiaDr. Kadir’s films and exhibitions contribute to the conceptualization of the poetics and politics of digital media in the representation of indigeneity, traditional knowledge, memory, language and cultural heritage, and to the ethical use of new media through collaboration with originating communi...Read more
Research Area
Lifeways in Indigenous Asia
Bin Zheng
Bin Zheng
Lecturer | Chinese Language and Literature
emailbin.zheng@ubc.ca
phone604 822 8574
location_onAuditorium Annex B 217
Research Area
ChineseBin Zheng first started teaching Chinese at UBC as a lecturer in 2017. She has since taught both Chinese language courses and literature courses. In the 1990s, she received her B.A. and M.A. Degree in Chinese Language and Literature at Shaanxi Normal University in China. After moving to Canada, she ...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Bruce Fulton
Bruce Fulton
Professor | Korean Literature and Literary Translation
emailfultonb@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 6145
location_onAsian Centre 216
Research Area
KoreanProfessor
Young-Bin Min Chair in Korean Literature and Literary Translation
I feel privileged to be part of the vibrant, welcoming community of scholars that is Asian Studies at UBC. As the inaugural holder of the Young-Bin Min Chair in Korean Literature and Literary Translation I offer instructi...Read more
Research Area
Korean
Bruce Rusk
Bruce Rusk
Associate Professor | Pre-Modern and Early Modern China | Graduate Advisor
emailbruce.rusk@ubc.ca
phone604 822 5183
location_onAsian Centre 404
Research Area
ChineseMy main areas of research and teaching are the cultural history of China, especially the Ming (1368–1644) through mid-Qing (1644–1911) periods. I have worked on the history of textual studies, literary culture, writing systems, and connoisseurship.
Most recently, I co-edited a history of Chin...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Celia Sze
Celia Sze is a sessional lecturer in the Cantonese Language Program at UBC. With a background in linguistics and second language education, she draws on her linguistic knowledge and experience in second language teaching to support Mandarin-speaking students in CNTO 311: Basic Cantonese for Mandarin...Read more
Research Area
Cantonese
Chien-Ju Lin
Chien-Ju Lin
Lecturer | Chinese Language
emailchienju.lin@ubc.ca
phone604 822 6245
location_onAuditorium Annex B 212
Research Area
ChineseChien-ju Lin first started teaching Chinese at UBC as a visiting lecturer in 2012, and she is now a lecturer as of 2016, teaching a variety of advanced heritage Chinese courses. Before teaching Chinese at UBC , she taught Chinese at Tamkang University’s Chinese Language Learning Center in Taiwan f...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Christina Laffin
Christina Laffin
Associate Professor | Classical Japanese
phone604 822 4990
location_onAsian Centre 210
Research Area
JapaneseAssociate Professor
Japanese CV (PDF)
English CV (PDF)
Research Interests
Medieval travel diaries; women’s education and socialization before 1600; poetic practices and waka culture; theories of travel, gender, and autobiography; noh theatre; and comparative approaches to medieval literature...Read more
Research Area
Japanese
Christopher Rea
Christopher Rea
Professor | Modern Chinese Literature
emailchris.rea@ubc.ca
phone604 822 5428
location_onAsian Centre 218
Research Area
ChineseChristopher Rea is a literary and cultural historian whose research focuses on the modern Chinese-speaking world. My most recent publications concern research methodology, cinema, comedy, celebrities, and swindlers. I am also a translator, including (with Julie M. Wang) of The Crossing of The Boars ...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Chunping Huang
Research Area
Asian Studies
Clayton Ashton
Clayton Ashton is researching the concept of ritual in early Chinese ethics, religion and political thought. Focusing on the writings of pre-Qin and Early Imperial China, he is currently exploring how the idea of ritual was combined with developing ideas about the body, emotions and human nature to ...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Clement Tong
Clement Tong
Seasonal Lecturer | China, Hong Kong, and Cantonese Worlds
emailclement.tong@ubc.ca
Dr. Clement Tong is an assistant professor of biblical studies and the coordinator of the Global Mandarin Program at the ACTS Seminaries (TWU). He is also a History and Asian Studies lecturer at the Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and a sessional lecturer at the University of British Columbia. Havi...Read more
Colleen Laird
Research Interests:
Japanese cinema—female directors, film stars, and audiences.
Videographic scholarship.
Dr. Colleen Laird is an Assistant Professor of Japanese Cinema in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada) where she teaches cours...Read more
Research Area
Japanese
Eurie Shin
Eurie Shin
Lecturer | Korean Language and Culture
emaileurie.shin@ubc.ca
phone604 822 4052
location_onAuditorium Annex B 214
Research Area
KoreanEurie received MA's from Yonsei University in Korea and University of California at Berkeley, and she has been teaching Korean at UBC since 2008. She is in charge of placement interviews, and she is the contact person if you are interested in taking any Korean language courses at UBC.
https://kor...Read more
Research Area
Korean
Fuyubi Nakamura
Fuyubi Nakamura
Associate Professor | Visual and Material Cultures of Asia | MOA Curator, Asia
phone604 822 4860
location_onAsian Centre 403A
Research Area
Anthropology | Asian Studies | Indigenous issues | Museum Studies | Visual and Material Culture StudiesFuyubi Nakamura (中村冬日) is a socio-cultural anthropologist and curator trained at the University of Oxford. Fuyubi specializes in the anthropology of art, museum studies, and material and visual culture studies. She taught in these fields in the graduate school at the Australian National Univ...Read more
Research Area
Anthropology | Asian Studies | Indigenous issues | Museum Studies | Visual and Material Culture Studies
Gurinder Mann
Gurinder Mann
Lecturer | Punjabi Language and Culture
emailgurinder.mann@ubc.ca
phone604 710 9106
location_onAuditorium Annex B101
Research Area
PunjabiBorn and raised in England, Gurinder grew up surrounded by UK Bhangra Bands, many of whom further fueled his innate passion for Punjabi culture. He completed his Bachelor’s degree at UBC, where he later returned to earn a Master’s degree in Asian Studies. He has a vast interest in romantic folkt...Read more
Research Area
Punjabi
Haley Blum
Haley Blum
Sessional Lecturer | Graduated 2024 - PhD
emailhblum@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 5189
location_onJack Bell Building 136
Haley Blum is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia.
Haoyue Li
Haoyue Li is a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate whose research focuses on late imperial Chinese literature, material culture, and book history. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia before pursuing her doctoral studie...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Hasan Siddiqui
Hasan Siddiqui
Assistant Professor | South Asian History
location_onAsian Centre 403A
Research Area
Asian StudiesHasan Siddiqui is a historian of South Asia specializing in early-modern intellectual history. His research interests include the history of encyclopedias, the history of political thought, and the history of the book. He holds a PhD in History from the University of Chicago.
Associate Editor, ...Read more
Research Area
Asian Studies
Helena Wu
Helena Wu
Canada Research Chair in Hong Kong Studies | Convenor, UBC Hong Kong Studies Initiative | Assistant Professor | Hong Kong Studies
emailHelena.Wu@ubc.ca
I have a transdisciplinary specialization in Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies, Film Studies, Sinophone Studies, and Hong Kong Studies. I obtained my MPhil degree in Comparative Literature at the University of Hong Kong and my PhD degree in Sinology at the University of Zurich. My academic pr...Read more
Hessam Dehghani
Hessam Dehghani
Associate Professor of Teaching | Persian Language and Culture
phone604 822 4619
Hessam Dehghani is an educator with dual PhDs: one in Linguistics from Allameh Tabatabai University (2011) and another in Philosophy from Boston College (2019). His academic career spans specialized research in Islamic philosophy, Persianate Sufi literature, and Critical Pedagogy combining deep ling...Read more
Hiromi Aoki
Hiromi Aoki
Assistant Professor of Teaching | Japanese Language Pedagogy
emailhiromi.aoki@ubc.ca
Research Area
JapaneseHiromi Aoki (青木裕美) is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia. She specializes in Japanese language pedagogy and is currently interested in how AI can help with language learning.
Professor Aoki has taught Japanese at sev...Read more
Research Area
Japanese
Ho Jung Choi
Ho Jung Choi
Korean Language Program Director | Associate Professor of Teaching | Korean Language, Pedagogy, and Culture
emailhojung.choi@ubc.ca
Dr. Ho Jung Choi’s work focuses on advancing Korean language education through innovative pedagogy, curriculum design, and community engagement. Before joining UBC, he directed the Korean Language Program at Princeton University and taught at several institutions in the United States, including th...Read more
Hongyang Tao
Hongyang Tao started teaching Chinese at UBC as a sessional lecturer in 2022. Before joining UBC, Tao was involved in Chinese teaching at various institutions globally, such as Beijing Language and Culture University and Capital Normal University in China; Universita de Ca’Forscari in Italy; Nanya...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Hsiang-ning Wang
Hsiang-ning Wang
Chinese Language Program Coordinator | Associate Professor of Teaching | Chinese Applied Linguistics
emailsunnie.wang@ubc.ca
location_onAuditorium Annex B 218
Research Area
ChineseI received my Ph.D. in Comparative and International Education and M.A. in both Chinese Pedagogy and Educational Psychology from Indiana University-Bloomington. Before joining the Department of Asian Studies at UBC, I taught courses in international and comparative education at Indiana University (2...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Hyejin Jo
Hyejin Jo
Sessional Lecturer of Korean Popular Music In Context
emailhyejin.jo@ubc.ca
Research Area
KoreanHyejin Jo is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University. Her research focuses on the intersections of Korean popular culture, digital platforms, and gender. She is currently working on her doctoral thesis about how human feelings and labour are platformized in the K-...Read more
Research Area
Korean
Hyung-Gu Lynn
Hyung-Gu Lynn
AECL/KEPCO Chair in Korean Research
emailhlynn@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 1277
location_onInstitute of Asian Research 264
Research Area
KoreanHyung-Gu Lynn is the AECL/KEPCO Chair in Korean Research.
Dr. Lynn’s research focuses on Korea and Japan, ranging in chronological coverage from the late-19th century to the present. Research areas include: (1) popular culture; (2) migration; (3) international relations; (4) political history; ...Read more
Research Area
Korean
Ihhwa Kim
Ihhwa Kim
Lecturer | Japanese Language
emailihhwa@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 827 4035
location_onAuditorium Annex B 207
Research Area
JapaneseResearch Area
Japanese
Janet Um
Janet Um
Lecturer | Sanskrit Language and Literature
emailjanet.um@ubc.ca
Janet Um is a scholar of Sanskrit literature and the literary histories of premodern South Asia. Her current work explores the relationship between narrative, literary genre, and conceptions of the author in Sanskrit prose literature. And her broader research interests include narrative traditions a...Read more
Jeonghye Son
Jeonghye Son
Lecturer | Korean Language and Culture
emailjhson39@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 4052
location_onAuditorium Annex B 214
Research Area
KoreanJeonghye Son specializes in Korean sociolinguistics with a specific focus on minority language maintenance/shift, language ideologies and identities. She completed her dissertation on language socialization processes through which languages ideologies and identities are constructed, transmitted and ...Read more
Research Area
Korean
Jessica Main
Jessica Main
Associate Head, Internal | Chair and Director, The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhism | Associate Professor | Contemporary Society
emailjessica.main@ubc.ca
phone604 822 9305
location_onC. K. Choi 283
Office: Enter the Choi Building and proceed up the stairs to second floor. At the top of the stairs, you will be facing the IAR main office in Room 251. Turn left and go to the very end of the hallway. My office is in the last cluster on the right. Office hours are by appointment here
Jessica beg...Read more
Ji-yoon An
Ji-yoon An
Assistant Professor | Modern Korean Popular Culture
emailjiyoon.an@ubc.ca
Research Area
KoreanMy research, broadly speaking, explores trends and patterns in Korean visual culture as a means of examining the symbiotic relationship between society and culture. My overarching approach can be encapsulated in the question: how does Korean culture document, fictionalize, or influence the micro-lev...Read more
Research Area
Korean
Jiaqi Yao
Jiaqi Yao is a lecturer in Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, specializing in modern Chinese literature, media, and popular culture.
Her first book project, In Search of the Real China: Republican Travelers in the Western Borderlands, 1921–1945, offers a compelling re-evaluati...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Jinhua Chen
Jinhua Chen
Professor | East Asian Buddhism
emailjinhua.chen@ubc.ca
phone604 822 5196
location_onAsian Centre 612
After receiving my PhD from McMaster University in 1997, where I was trained as an historian of religions with a focus on East Asian Buddhism, under the guidance of Professors Koichi Shinohara, Phyllis Granoff and Robert Sharf, I held a postdoctoral research fellowship at Kyoto University, in Japan....Read more
Jinsung Kim
Jinsung Kim is a Sessional Lecturer in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia. He earned his Ph.D. in Asian Studies at UBC in 2025. His research examines Korea’s military reform and its complex interactions with China, Japan, Russia, and the United States in the late...Read more
Kaori Tanaka
Kaori Tanaka
Lecturer | Japanese Language
emailkaori.tanaka@ubc.ca
phone604 822 5511
location_onAuditorium Annex B 200
Research Area
JapaneseKaori Tanaka has taught Japanese as a second language to learners from various linguistic and cultural backgrounds in Taiwan, Japan, Poland and Canada. She used to work as a Japanese language education consultant in Canada and conducted numerous teaching seminars.
She studied general linguistics...Read more
Research Area
Japanese
Kay Duffy
Kay Duffy
Assistant Professor | Premodern Sinitic Poetry
emailkay.duffy@ubc.ca
phone604 822 5180
location_onAsian Centre 405
Research Area
Asian StudiesKay Duffy is a scholar of premodern sinitic literatures whose research interests include the poetics, historiographies, and court cultures of the premodern sinographic sphere. Her current research project examines the composition and presentation of literary texts at court banquets held in observanc...Read more
Research Area
Asian Studies
Kiran Sunar
Kiran Sunar
Assistant Professor | Punjabi Language, Literature, and Culture
emailkiran.sunar@ubc.ca
Research Area
PunjabiKiran K. Sunar is the new Assistant Professor in Punjabi Language, Literature, and Culture. Kiran’s research and teaching coagulate around literature, religion, and culture in Punjab across its borders and into its diasporas, exploring questions of gender, sexuality, religion, and ecology. Their m...Read more
Research Area
Punjabi
Kyrie Vermette
I completed my MA in East Asian Studies at the University of Toronto with a thesis entitled “Like Mother, Unlike Daughter: Perspectives and Relationships between Missionary Women in Korea and Korean Women, 1884-1910.” My current research uses the interactions between Korean women and foreign wom...Read more
Research Area
Korean
Leo Shin
Leo Shin
Associate Professor | Chinese History (with the Department of History)
emaillkshin@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 5167
location_onBuchanan Tower 1223
I am a cultural historian of China. I am interested in how the ideas of “China” and “Chineseness” have evolved over time, and I am intrigued by how the sociology of culture—the production, transmission, and consumption of beliefs and practices—has shaped not only how the boundaries ...Read more
Li Yang
Li Yang received her B.A. in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language from Zhejiang University, China and her M.A. in East Asian Studies and M.Ed in Educational Policy Studies from the University of Alberta. Before joining UBC, she had taught Chinese language courses for 15 years at the University of A...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
ON LEAVE
February 2, 2025 - July 25, 2026
Li-jung Lee
Li-jung Lee
ON LEAVE
February 2, 2025 - July 25, 2026
Lecturer | Chinese Language
emaillijung.lee@ubc.ca
phone604 822 6245
location_onAuditorium Annex B 212
Research Area
ChineseLi-Jung Lee first started teaching at UBC as a visiting lecturer of Chinese, and she is now a lecturer. She teaches non-heritage Chinese and heritage Chinese courses. Before joining the Department of Asian Studies at UBC, she taught Chinese at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, USA, and devel...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Liam Doherty
Liam Doherty
Sessional Lecturer | Cantonese Language
emailliam.doherty@ubc.ca
location_onAsian Centre 407
Research Area
CantoneseDr. Liam Doherty is a sessional lecturer teaching in the Cantonese Language Program, with a background in Chinese as an Additional Language Education and a particular interest in digital literacy and multilingualism, translation, corpus linguistics, and the use of open data-driven digital tools to h...Read more
Research Area
Cantonese
Lianbin Dai
Lianbin Dai
Honorary Affiliate Lecturer | Pre-Modern Chinese History
emaillianbin.dai@ubc.ca
Research Area
ChineseDr. Lianbin Dai is a Sinologist specializing in cultural and social history of late imperial China (1368–1911). Before joining in UBC Asian Studies, he had been teaching in the Department of Pacific and Asian Studies in the University of Victoria. He also has held research and teaching positions a...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Mahtab Sirdani
Mahtab Sirdani
Sessional Lecturer | Persian Language and Culture
Dr. Mahtab Sirdani is a sociocultural anthropologist whose research focuses on Iranian diasporic communities in North America, particularly among residents in Massachusetts, USA, and British Columbia, Canada. Her work lies at the intersection of migration studies, phenomenology, the anthropology of ...Read more
Masumi Abe
Masumi Abe
Lecturer | Japanese Language
emailmasumi.abe@ubc.ca
phone604 827 4075
location_onAuditorium Annex B205
Research Area
JapaneseResearch Area
Japanese
Michiko Suzuki
Michiko Suzuki
Lecturer | Japanese Language
phone604 822 5511
location_onAuditorium Annex B 200
Research Area
JapaneseMajor Research Interests:
Japanese linguistics, Japanese pedagogy
Research Area
Japanese
Minami Orihara
Minami Orihara
Sessional Lecturer | Early Modern Japanese History
Research Area
JapaneseResearch Area
Japanese
Misuzu Kazama
Misuzu Kazama
Lecturer | Japanese Language
emailmisuzu.kazama@ubc.ca
phone604 822 5362
location_onAuditorium Annex B 206
Research Area
JapaneseMajor Research Interests:
Second language acquisition, Japanese phonetics, and critical literature analysis on Japanese modern literatures
Research Area
Japanese
ON LEAVE
July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027
Mostafa Abedinifard
Mostafa Abedinifard
ON LEAVE
July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027
Assistant Professor | Modern Persian Literature and Culture
phone604 822 4710
location_onC.K. Choi 172
Dr. Mostafa Abedinifard is an Assistant Professor of Modern Persian Literature and Culture in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia. He holds a PhD in Comparative Literature, an MA in English Language and Literature, and a BA in English Literature. Mostafa’s researc...Read more
ON LEAVE
July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027
Nam-lin Hur
Nam-lin Hur
ON LEAVE
July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027
Professor | History of Japan and Religious Culture
emailnamlin.hur@ubc.ca
phone604 822 5191
location_onAsian Centre 213
Research Area
Japanese
Professor
Professor Nam-lin Hur teaches premodern Japanese history, Korean-Japanese relations, and Chosŏn Korea in the Department of Asian Studies and conducts research on foreign relations, religion, and society in premodern Japan and Korea. His current monograph projects involve “Jap...Read more
Research Area
Japanese
ON LEAVE
September 1, 2025 – August 31, 2026
Naveena Naqvi
Naveena Naqvi
ON LEAVE
September 1, 2025 – August 31, 2026
Assistant Professor | Persianate Islamic Cultures of South Asia
emailnaveena.naqvi@ubc.ca
location_onAsian Centre 409
I am a historian of early modern and modern South Asia. My research interests include the Persianate world (ca. 13th-19th centuries), with a focus on non-courtly writers in regional contexts under early colonial rule. My broader fields of interest span the history of political Islam, gender and sexu...Read more
Nesrine Basheer
Nesrine Basheer
Associate Professor of Teaching | Arabic
Research Area
ArabicNesrine Basheer is an applied linguist and a specialist in teaching Arabic as a foreign language (TAFL). Her research interests include the teaching and assessment of writing and the multidialectal approach to teaching Arabic. Nesrine has taught Arabic at the American University in Cairo, the United...Read more
Research Area
Arabic
Nick Hall
Nick Hall
Lecturer | Japanese Language
emailnick.hall@ubc.ca
phone604 827 4075
location_onAuditorium Annex B205
Research Area
JapaneseResearch Area
Japanese
Noriyuki Kawada
Noriyuki Kawada
Lecturer | Japanese Language
phone604 822 8495
location_onAuditorium Annex B 202
Research Area
JapaneseOffice hours:
Mondays 12:00-13:50
Thursdays 11:00-12:00
I have been engaging in Japanese language education since 2012 and had taught in China and Hawai’i before UBC, teaching Japanese as a foreign/second language as well as Japanese business/academic skills. Also, I taught Japanese as a ...Read more
Research Area
Japanese
Pasang Sherpa
Pasang Sherpa
Assistant Professor | Lifeways in Indigenous Asia
emailpasang.sherpa@ubc.ca
I am a Sharwa (Sherpa) anthropologist from Pharak, (also known as southern part of Mount Everest region) in northeastern Nepal. I examine human dimension of climate change in the high Himalaya from an Indigenous perspective. My research, writing, and pedagogy are guided by the question: How do we li...Read more
Pihua Lin
Pihua Lin
Lecturer | Chinese Language
emailpihua.lin@ubc.ca
phone604 827 3268
location_onAuditorium Annex B 213
Research Area
ChinesePihua Lin first started teaching Chinese at UBC as a visiting lecturer in 2016, and she is now a lecturer as of 2018. Before teaching Chinese at UBC, she received a M.A. Degree in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language at National Taiwan Normal University. Then, she became a full-time Mandarin instru...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
ON LEAVE
July 1, 2026 - December 31, 2026
Qian Wang
Qian Wang
ON LEAVE
July 1, 2026 - December 31, 2026
Chinese Language Program Director | Professor of Teaching | Chinese Linguistics
emailqian.wang@ubc.ca
phone604 827 3450
location_onAsian Centre 219
Research Area
ChineseDr. Wang, the Director of the Chinese Language Program at Asian Studies, teaches Mandarin Chinese language courses at UBC. Her Chinese name is 王蒨, which has two parts: WANG, which is her family name meaning king, and Qian, her given name, representing a type of grass that can survive a cold wint...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Raymond Pai
Raymond Pai
Lecturer | Cantonese Language
emailraymond.pai@ubc.ca
phone604 822 4131
location_onAuditorium Annex B 211
Research Area
CantoneseRaymond Pai is a Lecturer and the Director of the Cantonese Language Program at the University of British Columbia. He is also a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada-funded PhD candidate in the UBC Department of Language and Literacy Education.
He teaches all levels of Cant...Read more
Research Area
Cantonese
Rebecca Chau
Rebecca Chau
Associate Professor of Teaching | Japanese Language Program Director | Japanese Linguistics
emailrchau@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 9029
location_onAsian Centre 215
Research Area
JapaneseAssociate Professor of Teaching and Director of Japanese Language Program
Educational Background
Ph.D. (University of Tsukuba) – Linguistics
M.A. (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies) – Japanese linguistics
Courses taught
Japanese language courses at all levels.
Research Interests
Jap...Read more
Research Area
Japanese
ON LEAVE
June 1, 2026 — November 30, 2026
Renren Yang
Renren Yang
ON LEAVE
June 1, 2026 — November 30, 2026
Assistant Professor | Modern Chinese Popular Culture
emailrenren.yang@ubc.ca
location_onC.K. Choi #179 1855 West Mall
Research Area
ChineseRenren Yang works on twentieth-and twenty-first-century Chinese literature, cinema, and popular culture, with a focus on the intersection of literary and media studies. His current book project, “Interface Resonance: A Media Genealogy of Literary Fame in Modern China,” traces the changing concep...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Ross King
Ross King
Professor | Korean Language and Literature
emailross.king@ubc.ca
phone604 822 2835
location_onAsian Centre 411
Research Area
KoreanMajor Research Interests:
1) History of language, writing and literary culture in the Sinographic cultural sphere, with a specific focus on medieval Korea and the interplay of cosmopolitan and vernacular in other regions of the Sinographic cosmopolis.
2) Korean historical linguistics (esp. K...Read more
Research Area
Korean
Rumee Ahmed
Rumee Ahmed
Canada Research Chair in Theology and Ethics | Professor of Islamic Law
emailrumee.ahmed@ubc.ca
phone604 822 3696
location_onC.K. Choi #173
Rumee Ahmed received his PhD from the Institute for the Study of Institutional Studies at Bovine University. His research takes an emic approach to the surplus utilization of complexified nomenclature as deontology among in-group academicians. He has written a bunch of books and a bunch of article...Read more
Saeko Suzuki
Saeko Suzuki
Sessional Lecturer | PhD Candidate
emailsaeko.suzuki@ubc.ca
Saeko Suzuki is a Ph.D. candidate specializing in literature, publishing and print culture in early modern Japan under the guidance of Dr. Joshua S. Mostow. Her doctoral project is funded by a SSHRC award and examines the publishing system of illustrated encyclopedias for women between the 18th to 1...Read more
Samily Kwok
Research Area
Cantonese
Sebastian Prange
Sebastian Prange
Associate Professor | South Asian History
emails.prange@ubc.ca
Sebastian Prange (PhD, University of London) is an economic historian of the medieval Indian Ocean world, with a focus on South India. His research interests revolve around the history of Islam in monsoon Asia, the role of piracy and maritime violence, and the development of capitalism from a non-Eu...Read more
Sharalyn Orbaugh
Sharalyn Orbaugh
Department Head | Professor | Modern Japanese Literature and Popular Culture
phone604 822 5132
location_onAsian Centre 401
Research Area
JapaneseDepartment Head, Professor of Modern Japanese Literature and Popular Culture
Associate, Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice
Education:
PhD in Far Eastern Languages and Literatures, University of Michigan, 1989
Research Area
Japanese
Sheni (Hsueh-Ni) Chen
Sheni (Hsueh-Ni) Chen
Lecturer | Chinese
emailsheni@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 827 4038
location_onAuditorium Annex B 203, 1924 West Mall
Research Area
ChineseSheni Chen received her Ph.D. from National Taiwan Normal University, majoring in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language. Her thesis topic was “A study on the Training of Volunteer Chinese Teachers for Overseas Chinese School.” This study of teacher training used overseas Chinese schools as the t...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Shota Iwasaki
Shota Iwasaki is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia with a specialization in modern Japanese literature and visual culture. His dissertation examines representations of speech disabilities and disorders in the literature and visual arts of mode...Read more
Research Area
Japanese
Shuyu Li
I graduated from the University of Hong Kong and the Education University of Hong Kong, where I received an MA degree in Teaching Chinese as an International Language. Before coming to Canada, I taught Mandarin at Hong Kong’s international schools and led a short-term Chinese program at the Fontys...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Sonam Chusang
Sonam Chusang
Sessional Instructor | Tibetan
emailsonam.chusang@ubc.ca
phone604 446 8705
Research Area
TibetanSonam Chusang is the lecturer in the Tibetan language at the University of British Columbia, and taught Intensive Tibetan language course with community engagement programs in the past 3 summers. In the summer of 2007, Sonam also taught Tibetan at the University of Virginia.
Sonam has been teachi...Read more
Research Area
Tibetan
Stefania Burk
Stefania Burk
Associate Dean, Academic | Associate Professor of Teaching
emailstefania.burk@ubc.ca
Research Area
JapaneseResearch Area
Japanese
Su-Anne Yeo
Su-Anne Yeo
Sessional Lecturer
emailsuanne.yeo@ubc.ca
location_onAuditorium Annex A 244D
Research Area
ChineseSu-Anne Yeo researches and teaches in the areas of film studies, media studies, and cultural studies, with a specialization in Asian and Asian diasporic screen cultures. She completed a PhD in Media and Communications under the supervision of Professor Chris Berry at Goldsmiths, University of London...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Sunera Thobani
Sunera Thobani
Professor | Department of Asian Studies
location_onC.K. Choi 177
I am a Professor in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia. My scholarship is located at the intersection of the Social Sciences and Humanities. I study and work on critical race, postcolonial, transnational and feminist theory; South Asian women's, gender and sexualit...Read more
Sunil Bhatt
Sunil Bhatt
Associate Professor of Teaching | Hindi-Urdu
emailsunil.bhatt@ubc.ca
phone604 827 5950
location_onC.K. Choi 180
Research Area
Hindi-UrduI am a linguist who has experienced foreign/second language learning from both sides of the classroom. As a student I learnt Russian and Croatian, and as an educator I got the opportunity to teach Hindi and Hindi-Urdu. Learning foreign languages has given me opportunity to experience the process of ...Read more
Research Area
Hindi-Urdu
Tanzoom Ahmed
Tanzoom Ahmed
PhD Candidate | Sessional Lecturer
Research Area
Asian StudiesTanzoom studies cultural mediums and archives; such as print-literary sources, theatre and films.
She is originally from Assam—the northeastern “tea” state of India. She has completed her MA from the University of Chicago. Additionally, she received an MPP focused on International Governanc...Read more
Research Area
Asian Studies
Tsering Shakya
Tsering Shakya
Associate Professor | Religion and Contemporary Society in Asia
emailtshakya@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 2968
location_onInstitute of Asian Research, CK Choi 281
Research Area
Tibetan
Canada Research Chair in Religion and Contemporary Society in Asia
Institute of Asian Research
University of British Columbia
1855 West Mall, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6T 1Z2
Office: Room 281, C.K. Choi Building
Tel: 604-822-2968
E-mail: tshakya@exchange.ubc.ca
...Read more
Research Area
Tibetan
Weiting Guo
Weiting Guo
Sessional Lecturer | Chinese History and Culture
emailweiting.guo@ubc.ca
I am a historian specializing in law, empire, and identity in China and East Asia. My research focuses on how Chinese people and political regimes navigated social, legal, and political structures, as well as traumatic events. I also explore law and violence in Taiwan within the broader context of E...Read more
Xiaowen Xu
Xiaowen Xu
Associate Professor of Teaching | Chinese Applied Linguistics
emailxiaowen.xu@ubc.ca
location_onAsian Centre Room 219
Research Area
ChineseRESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS
Dr. Xu teaches courses on Chinese language, literature, and English/Chinese translation. She holds two doctoral degrees: one in East Asian Studies from the University of Toronto (2014), and the other in English from the Beijing Foreign Studies University (1997). Her ...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Xiong Zhang
Xiong Zhang
Sessional Lecturer | Chinese Language and Literature
emailxiong.zhang@ubc.ca
Research Area
ChineseXiong Zhang holds an MA in Asian Studies with a focus on Chinese Studies from the University of British Columbia. His academic interests encompass Chinese literature, Chinese popular culture, and non-fiction writing. Prior to his role at UBC, he earned a BA in Journalism from Renmin University of Ch...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Xueshun Liu
Xueshun Liu
Lecturer | Chinese Language
emailxliu@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 827 3268
location_onAuditorium Annex B 213
Research Area
ChineseUpon graduating from the Anyang Normal College Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Xueshun Liu pursued further studies at Zhengzhou University (M.A.) and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Ph.D.) in Beijing. A Harvard-Yenching visiting fellow in 1996-7 and UC Berkeley Center for Chin...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Yasuko Matsumoto
My teaching career started at Williams College as a language fellow. After that, I taught at several different institutions in the U.S. and Japan. Before coming to UBC, I taught at Stanford University for three years. I will be teaching first and second year Japanese language courses at UBC as of Se...Read more
Research Area
Japanese
Yuning Liu
Yuning Liu
Sessional Lecturer | Chinese Language and Literature
emailyuning.liu@ubc.ca
Yuning Liu is a Ph.D. candidate in Theatre Studies at the University of British Columbia. Her research interests include the interplay between various xiqu (traditional Chinese theatre) genres in Taiwan and the interrelationship between xiqu, politics, national identity, and cultural policy. She als...Read more
Zheng Cai
Zheng Cai
Lecturer | Chinese Language and Literature
emailzheng.cai@ubc.ca
phone604 822 8574
location_onAuditorium Annex B 217
Research Area
ChineseZheng (Tim) Cai received his M.A. in East Asian Studies and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Alberta. His research interests include Chinese literature, literary theory, Chinese intellectual and cultural history, Chinese art history, comparative poetics, and world literature. B...Read more
Research Area
Chinese
Zoe Lam
Zoe Lam
Lecturer | Cantonese Language
emailzoe.lam@ubc.ca
phone604 822 4131
location_onAuditorium Annex B 211
Research Area
CantoneseZoe Lam teaches Cantonese language courses at UBC Asian Studies. Please visit https://blogs.ubc.ca/zoelam/ to learn more about her work.
Research Area
CantoneseVisiting Researchers and Scholars
Hiroe Yamaguchi
Hiroe Yamaguchi
Visiting Professor | Chinese Buddhism
Research Area
Buddhist StudiesDr. Yamaguchi is the Professor of Buddhist Studies at Komazawa University, Japan. Her research focuses on Tiantai Buddhism, Chinese Buddhist philosophy, the Vimalakīrti Sūtra, and meditation practices such as zhiguan. She has held academic positions in Japan, Korea, and China, including Senior Vis...Read more
Research Area
Buddhist Studies
Jun Hong Park
Jun Hong Park
Visiting Researcher | Korean Language Education
emailjunhong.park@ubc.ca
Research Area
KoreanResearch Area
Korean
Sungkeen Kim
Sungkeen Kim
Visiting Professor | History of Science in East Asia
emailsungkeen.kim@ubc.ca
As a historian of science, Professor Kim has long explored the encounter between Eastern and Western scientific traditions during the 19th century, with a particular focus on the complexities of translation. Building on this foundation, Professor Kim is currently preparing a manuscript on the adopti...Read more
Yumi Sugihara
Dr. Yumi Sugihara is a Visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Asian Studies at UBC, affiliated with Keio University, Japan. Her research interests include critical interculturality, and the ideologies surrounding language, culture, and ethnicity in Japanese society and beyond.
Research Area
Japanese