The IAR Newsletter will be going on our yearly hiatus from now until the
fall term begins in September. See you soon!
|
|
This is my last message for the Newsletter as Director of the IAR. My term finishes at the end of June and I will return to my teaching and research duties in SPPGA and the Department of History. It has been both a challenge and a pleasure to serve during this time of transition for IAR and SPPGA and in the face of the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has forced the curtailment of most of the IAR’s rich offerings of talks, seminars, and conferences, as well as denied a score of researchers and graduate students access to the Choi Building. We look forward to a graduated return to normal activities in the fall.
► IAR 2.0
All has not been Zoom webinars, however. Behind the scenes over the past six months we have been undertaking a review of the role and future direction of the Institute of Asian Research as part of the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. With the assistance of UBC’s Strategy & Decision Support unit and eleven UBC faculty, students and alumni drawn from IAR, SPPGA, our MPPGA program, and the Asian Studies Department, we reviewed the IAR’s past, present, and future directions. We called our review IAR 2.0 and our findings have been submitted to Dr. Allison Macfarlane, Director of SPPGA. The incoming IAR Director and Dr. Macfarlane will carry us forward more surely with the information and recommendations of this working group. I want to thank the hardworking colleagues who served on this review for their time and thoughtful recommendations. The full details await the new IAR Director, but I can leave you with a few new and “emerging” developments, such as plans for “Choi Scholars” and “Choi Fellows”—advanced graduate research students and MPPGA students whose work and interest are relevant to policy analysis in and concerning Asia: watch this space!
► IAR Chairs & Postdoctoral Fellowships
In the past year, we have been able to activate three of the IAR endowments to bring talented senior scholars and a promising postdoctoral fellow into the IAR/SPPGA community. This year, Professor Paul Evans has been appointed HSBC Chair in Asian Research at the IAR in the School. He brings a lifetime of policy and track II consultations skills in capitals across Asia from Tokyo to Delhi, as well as established contacts in federal and provincial government on Asia policy. We will soon be announcing the new appointment of the Konwakai Chair in Japanese Research which will bring similar talent, experience, and research focus to policy work in Japan and Northeast Asia. Finally, we are pleased to welcome Jessica DiCarlo as the Chevalier Postdoctoral Fellows in transportation and development in China. She will join us later in the fall with a PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
This is a challenging year for Canada in our relationship with China, India, and other Asian nations, as well as a time when we look to work with colleagues in Asia on shared problems of environment, economic development, and regional security. We look forward to working with our colleagues at UBC, across Canada and North America, Europe and in Asia to address these problems.
Timothy Cheek
Director of the Institute of Asian Research
|
|
The UBC Himalaya Program is pleased to announce the release of self-directed Open Educational Resources (OERs) for learning introductory Nepali and Tibetan.
Designed by UBC Himalaya Program and Asian Studies language instructors Binod Shrestha (Nepali) and Sonam Chusang (Tibetan) as self-paced, open access courses, the OERs offer learners a basic introduction to each language, with lessons on script, grammar, basic vocabulary, and guidance on how to carry out a basic conversation.
|
|
► Professor Veena Sriram (SPPGA; School of Population and Public Health) sheds some light on the “double mutant” COVID situation making waves in India in multiple media outlets, Media Mentions: COVID-19 Crisis in India. April 29, 2021.
|
|
Time: 5:00PM - 6:30PM PT
Location: Zoom (link will be sent to registrants)
Speakers: Bianca Chui, Miaoling Xue
Sponsor: Centre for Japanese Research
|
|
Time: 7:00PM - 8:30PM PT
Location: Zoom (link will be sent to registrants)
Speakers: Dr. Cecilia L. Chu (HKU), Dorothy Tang (MIT)
Sponsors: UBC Hong Kong Studies Initiative, Department of Asian Studies, Department of History, Centre for Chinese Research, Asian Library, Interdisciplinary Histories Research Cluster
|
|
Time: 5:00PM - 6:30PM PT
Location: Zoom (link will be sent to registrants)
Speakers: Bianca Chui, Romi Kim, Tianyu Li, Taranjit Singh Dhillon
Sponsor: Asian Library
|
|
Stay up to date with the latest news and events from the UBC School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, the Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs program, the UBC Office of Regional International Community Engagement, and the Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions. Subscribe Here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
