ASIA 4350

Students will critically investigate theories surrounding the study of migration and adaptation, and explore the local experience of East, South, Southeast, and West Asian communities in Canada, with emphasis on the post-World War II period. In doing so, they will critically examine complex intercultural relations among Asian immigrants, Indigenous peoples, and colonial settlers in light of Canadian immigration and multiculturalism policy. They will examine members of Asian communities as 'social actors' and active contributors to their own social and cultural transformation as they engage with the new and changing social, economic and political structures of Canadian society. Students will conduct a field research project from a social science perspective on an Asian community in Greater Vancouver or the Fraser Valley region. Students will develop field research skills and gain exposure to the pertinent issues surrounding the complexity of the Asian diasporic experience in Canada's multicultural environment. Note: This is a seminar course.