UBC experts are available to comment on various topics this Asian Heritage Month.
Anti-Asian racism and society
Dr. John Paul Catungal (he/him)
Assistant Professor, Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice, and Interim Program Director of the Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies program
Email: catungal@mail.ubc.ca, jpcatungal@gmail.com
Language(s): English, some Tagalog/Filipino
- History of anti-Asian racism in Canada; Asian Canadian community organizing, especially in relation to health, social services, education and policymaking; migration and transnationalism; gender and sexuality as Asian Canadian issues; Filipino Canadian issues; solidarity building among Asian Canadians and with other marginalized communities; difference and inequality among Asian Canadians; COVID-19 and Asian Canadians
Dr. Carol Liao
Associate Professor, Peter A. Allard School of Law, and Director of the Centre for Business Law
Email: liao@allard.ubc.ca
Language(s): English
- Anti-Asian racism, equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), employment, business ethics, and law
Dr. Guofang Li
Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Language and Literacy Education
Email: guofang.li@ubc.ca
Language(s): English, Chinese
- Anti-Asian racism, model minority myth, Asian cultural diversity; Asian children and students’ languages and identities
Immigrant experiences and challenges
Salima Samnani
Lecturer and Co-Director of Legal Services, Peter A. Allard School of Law
Phone: 604-345-6881
Email: samnani@allard.ubc.ca
Language(s): English
- What it means to be an Asian immigrant in Canada, challenges faced when adjusting to a new life in Canada, and barriers to entry in social activities and high-level jobs.
Dr. Yue Qian (she/her)
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
Email: yue.qian@ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English (preferred), Mandarin
- Sexual racism experienced by Asian men, immigrants’ need for love and companionship, rise of anti-Asian hate during COVID-19 pandemic
*limited availability on Tuesdays
Dr. Miu Chung Yan
Professor, School of Social Work
Email: miu.yan@ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English, Cantonese
- Chinese and Hong Kong immigrants’ settlement and integration issues; racism against Asians
STEM, science and innovation
Dr. William Cheung
Professor and Director, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Email: w.cheung@oceans.ubc.ca
Language(s): English, Cantonese
- Role modelling in STEM, climate change, oceans, fisheries, biodiversity
Dr. Maria Palomares
Senior Scientist and Manager of Sea Around Us Research Unit, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Email: m.palomares@oceans.ubc.ca
Language(s): English, French, Tagalog, Spanish
- The importance of role modelling in STEM, fisheries science, fish biology, biodiversity information systems, Sea Around Us and SeaLifeBase.
Maria Tokuyama, PhD (she/her)
Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Science
Email: maria.tokuyama@ubc.ca
Language(s): English
- Having a justice, equity, diversity and inclusion mindset in research, Asian women in STEM
Dr. Siyun Wang
Associate Professor of Food Safety Engineering, Faculty of Land and Food Systems
Email: siyun.wang@ubc.ca
Language(s): Mandarin
- Food science, food safety, food microbiology, STEM-driven innovation
Dr. Rickey Yada (he/him)
Dean and Professor, Faculty of Land and Food Systems
Email: r.yada@ubc.ca
Language(s): English
- Food Science, innovation, food systems, food waste, food policy, agricultural policy, food protein chemistry, enzymes (aspartic proteases), carbohydrate biochemistry, food nanotechnology.
*Unavailable May 26-27
History
Dr. Laura Ishiguro (she/her)
Associate Professor, Department of History
Email: Laura.Ishiguro@ubc.ca
Language(s): English
- Japanese-Canadian history
