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. Kay Duffy – Early and Medieval China (accepting MA students only)
Dr. Aynur Kadir – Ethnic Minorities and Digital Humanities in China (accepting MA students only)
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
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
Dr. Jessica Main – Modern and Contemporary Buddhism (global, open); Modern Japanese Buddhism and Jodo Shinshu; Modern Japanese Religions and New Religious Movements
Dr. Fuyubi Nakamura – Anthropology, Contemporary Japanese Calligraphy and Art, Indigenous Cultures, Photography, Visual and Material Cultures (accepting PhD students only)
Dr. Sharalyn Orbaugh – Modern Japanese Literature and Popular Culture (not accepting graduate students in 2027-2028)
Dr. Ayaka Yoshimizu – Japanese Diasporic Culture, Asian Migration, and Asian-Indigenous Relations
Korea
Dr. Ji-yoon An – Korean Cinema and Popular Culture (accepting MA students only)
Dr. Ross King – Korean Language and Literature, especially pre-modern (not accepting graduate students in 2027-2028)
Dr. Hyung Gu Lynn – East Asia, Japan, South Korea, and North Korea – Popular Culture, Media, Migration, Modern and Contemporary History
Buddhism
Dr. Jinhua Chen – East Asian Buddhism (not accepting MA students in 2027)
Dr. Jessica Main – Modern and Contemporary Buddhism (global, open); Modern Japanese Buddhism and Jodo Shinshu; Modern Japanese Religions and New Religious Movements
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 (not accepting graduate students in 2027-2028)
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 (accepting PhD students only)
South Asia
Dr. Mostafa Abedinifard – Modern Persian Literature and culture
Dr. Alexandra Hoffmann – Classical Persian Literature
Dr. Renisa Mawani – Colonial Legal Histories
Dr. Naveena Naqvi – Early Modern and Modern South Asia (accepting MA students only)
Dr. Sebastian Prange – South Asian History (accepting MA students only)
Dr. Adheesh Sathaye – Sanskrit Literature and Folklore
Dr. Hasan Siddiqui – Early Modern South Asia (not accepting graduate students in 2027-2028)
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 (accepting PhD students only)
Himalayas
Dr. Tsering Shakya – Tibetan Studies
Dr. Pasang Yangjee Sherpa – Human dimensions of climate change, Indigeneity, Himalayas
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.