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University of Victoria

Asian Heritage Month

May is Asian Heritage Month—an opportunity for UVic to showcase the stories, research, contributions and vital impact made by people of Asian descent on campus, in our communities and beyond. We’re celebrating Asian cultures within vibrant and diverse Canadian communities as we forge our way together toward a better, more inclusive, future.

Initiatives

Landscapes of Injustice

During the 1940s, Canada enacted mass displacement and dispossession of Japanese Canadians. The Landscapes of injustice project, led by historian Jordan Stanger-Ross, explores this difficult period in Canadian history.

Through images and rich prose, the project’s digitial storytelling site provides an immersive digital experience that explores the real stories of the people affected by these racist policies. Many Canadians continue to experience marginalization and racism today—the stories of our past hold many lessons to better equip our society for dealing with these challenges today.

Pandemic racism

Dr. Nigel Mantou Lou, a social-cultural psychologist, leads the Motivation & Intercultural Relations Lab (MIR Lab). His research explores the dynamics of motivation, identity, and intercultural relations.

The MIR Lab has published extensively on topics related to Asian Canadians’ identity and mental health. Currently, Dr. Lou and his team, co-led by UVic postdoc Dr. Tony Ahn, are conducting a SSHRC-funded research project to develop a culturally grounded educational tool that supports Asian Canadian children facing bullying in schools. Adopting design thinking techniques, the project focuses on families’ lived experiences and expert guidance to craft relatable solutions and insights. The goal is to create a digital tool for learning, with stories and infographics that supports family’s conversations about race, identity, and mental health. 

Growth and solidarity: mental health hub

Led by Fred Chou in Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies, Growth and Solidarity is a resource hub and research community that aims to strengthen Asian mental health across Canada.

Fred Chou's research lab has compiled mental health resources for the Asian Canadian community that can be found through the Growth and Solidarity site. They have also developed a group counselling intervention called (Re)Claim and Connect to support individuals who have experienced anti-Asian racism.

Displaced Japanese Canadians leaving the Vancouver area (possibly Slocan Valley) after being prohibited by law from entering a “protected area” within 100 miles of the coast in BC.

Past Wrongs, Future Choices

Housed at UVic's Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives and Centre for Global Studies, with partners in Australia, Brazil, Japan, the United States and Canada, the Past Wrongs, Future Choices project prompts communities across the world to grapple with anti-Asian racism from the past and present. Museum exhibitions, digital collections, documentary films, teaching resources and books show what these transnational injustices can teach us today. Image provided courtesy of Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre. 1994.69.4.29.1.

Read the Q and A

Resources & supports