You are welcome to contact our professors in your field of study if you need assistance with your research proposal or like one of them to act as your supervisor.
RESEARCH FIELDS AND SUPERVISORS
China
Dr. Alison Bailey – Pre-modern Chinese Literature (not accepting graduate students in 2026-2027)
Dr. Kay Duffy – Early and Medieval China (accepting MA students only)
Dr. Aynur Kadir – Ethnic Minorities and Digital Humanities in China
Dr. Christopher Rea – Modern Chinese Literature, Culture and Cinema
Dr. Bruce Rusk – Pre-Modern China
Dr. Leo Shin – History of later imperial China
Dr. Renren Yang – Contemporary Chinese Literature, Media, and Popular Culture
Hong Kong
Dr. Leo Shin – History of Hong Kong (Joint appointment with the History Department)
Dr. Helena Wu – Hong Kong Cinema, Literature and Culture
Japan
Dr. Colleen Laird – Japanese Cinema and Popular Culture (not accepting students in 2026-2027)
Dr. Christina Laffin – Premodern Japanese Literature and Culture
Dr. Hyung Gu Lynn –East Asia, Japan, South Korea, and North Korea – Popular Culture, Media, Migration, Modern and Contemporary History (accepting PhD students)
Dr. Jessica Main – Modern and Contemporary Buddhism (global, open); Modern Japanese Buddhism and Jodo Shinshu; Modern Japanese Religions and New Religious Movements (not accepting graduate students in 2026-2027)
Dr. Joshua Mostow – Pre-Modern Japanese Literature and Visual Culture (not accepting graduate students in 2026-2027)
Dr. Fuyubi Nakamura – Anthropology, Contemporary Japanese Calligraphy and Art, Indigenous Cultures, Photography, Visual and Material Cultures
Dr. Sharalyn Orbaugh – Modern Japanese Literature and Popular Culture (not accepting graduate students in 2026-2027)
Dr. Christina Yi – Modern Japanese Literature (not accepting graduate students in 2026-2027)
Dr. Ayaka Yoshimizu – Japanese Diasporic Culture, Asian Migration, and Asian-Indigenous Relations (accepting MA students)
Korea
Dr. Ji-yoon An – Korean Cinema and Popular Culture (accepting MA students only)
Dr. Bruce Fulton – Korean Literature and Literary Translation (accepting MA students only)
Dr. Ross King – Korean Language and Literature, especially pre-modern (accepting MA students only)
Dr. Hyung Gu Lynn – East Asia, Japan, South Korea, and North Korea – Popular Culture, Media, Migration, Modern and Contemporary History (not accepting graduate students in 2026W)
Buddhism
Dr. Jinhua Chen – East Asian Buddhism (not accepting graduate students in 2024)
Dr. Jessica Main – Modern and Contemporary Buddhism (global, open); Modern Japanese Buddhism and Jodo Shinshu; Modern Japanese Religions and New Religious Movements (not accepting graduate students in 2026W)
East Asia
Dr. Nam-lin Hur – Any topic related to the following research areas: (1) International relations in premodern East Asia in the 14th-19th centuries; (2) Sengoku and Tokugawa Japan (16th-19th centuries); (3) Chosŏn/Colonial Korea (1392-1945); (4) Religions and society in premodern Japan and Korea. In particular, prospective students with interests in transborder, transnational, transdisciplinary research on premodern East Asia through critical frameworks are strongly encouraged to apply.
Dr. Ross King – cosmopolitan and vernacular in the Sinographic Cosmopolis/comparative literary culture in the sinographic sphere
Dr. Hyung Gu Lynn – East Asia, Japan, South Korea, and North Korea – Popular Culture, Media, Migration, Modern and Contemporary History
Dr. Fuyubi Nakamura – Anthropology, Contemporary Calligraphy and Art, Indigenous Cultures, Photography
South Asia
Dr. Mostafa Abedinifard – Modern Persian Literature and culture (accepting MA and PhD students working on modern Persian literature and culture)
Dr. Alexandra Hoffmann – Classical Persian Literature
Dr. Naveena Naqvi – Early Modern and Modern South Asia (accepting MA students only)
Dr. Harjot Oberoi – South Asian Social & Religious History
Dr. Sebastian Prange – South Asian History (accepting MA students only)
Dr. Adheesh Sathaye – Sanskrit Literature and Folklore
Dr. Hasan Siddiqui – Early Modern South Asia
Dr. Kiran Sunar – Literature and Culture in South Asia, Punjab Studies, Diaspora Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies (accepting MA students)
Dr. Sunera Thobani – South Asian Women’s, Gender, Sexuality Studies
Pan-Asia
Dr. Rumee Ahmed – Islamic Studies
Dr. Aynur Kadir – Digital Humanities, Cultural Heritage and Indigeneity in Asia
Dr. Hyung Gu Lynn – East Asia, Japan, South Korea, and North Korea – Popular Culture, Media, Migration, Modern and Contemporary History
Dr. Fuyubi Nakamura – Anthropology, Art, Visual and Material Cultures, Photography, Indigenous Cultures
Himalayas
Dr. Tsering Shakya – Tibetan Studies
Dr. Pasang Yangjee Sherpa – Human dimensions of climate change, Indigeneity, Himalayas (not accepting graduate students in 2026-2027)
In special cases, PhD degree programs can be arranged jointly between Asian Studies and other departments. For those interested in the Interdisciplinary Program, please contact the Interdisciplinary Studies at http://www.isgp.ubc.ca/
Other UBC Faculty with Interests in Asian Studies:
Those interested in Asia-related modern history, political science, commerce, economics, geography, fine arts, anthropology or sociology, should apply to the department concerned.