Asian Heritage Month: Immigration, literature and education experts available

TORONTO, May 10, 2019 – Asian Heritage Month in May is a time to celebrate and reflect on the contributions that Asian Canadians make to Canada’s growth and prosperity.

The month is also an opportunity to learn about the history of Asian Canadians, celebrate their contributions to Canada, and immerse in the rich cultural heritage brought by immigrants who journeyed to this nation over the last two centuries.

Three York University experts are available for interviews covering a variety of topics from immigration and citizenship to literature and higher education. All are associates in the university’s York Centre for Asian Research, a community of researchers committed to supporting research related to Asia and Asian migrant communities in Canada and around the world.

Guida Man is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and a research associate at York’s Centre for Feminist Research. Her research explores the interactions of immigration, gender, work, family and social inequality in the context of globalization and transnational migration, using intersectional analysis. Her work on Chinese immigrants in Canada addresses such issues as transnational migration, families, gender relations, social reproduction, employment and integration. Currently, she is researching income inequality and intergenerational relationships among newcomers in South Asian and Chinese households in York Region.

She can comment on:

• Chinese diaspora in Canada
• Chinese immigration, immigrants and communities
• Transnational migration
• Chinese women

Lily Cho is an associate professor in the Department of English in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, who also serves as chair of the department. Her research focuses on the fields of cultural studies, postcolonial literature and theory, and Asian North American and Canadian literature. Cho has written dozens of journal articles and books chapters and wrote Eating Chinese: Culture on the Menu in Small Town Canada. Currently, she is leading a research project, Mass Capture: Chinese Head Tax and the Making of Non-Citizens in Canada, which analyzes Chinese Canadian head tax certificates, once used to track thousands of Chinese immigrants in the county’s first mass use of identification photography. Her project explores the relationship between citizenship, photography and surveillance.

She can comment on:

• Asian Canadian literature
• Asian North American literature
• Asian Canadian and Asian North American culture
• Chinese head tax certificates, immigration and citizenship

Qiang Zha is an associate professor and graduate program director in the Faculty of Education. Zha’s research focuses on Chinese and East Asian higher education, higher education policies, the internationalization of higher education, and the differentiation and diversity in higher education. His written work includes dozens of journals articles and book chapters. He co-edited Canadian Universities in China’s Transformation: An Untold Story, an account of Canadian and Chinese universities working together shortly after the Cultural Revolution on knowledge production and application, and their resulting impacts.

He can comment on:

• Chinese and East Asian higher education
• Globalization and education
• Brain drain and brain gain
• International migration, development and academic relations

York University champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. York students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. York U is an internationally recognized research university – our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, York is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.

York U’s fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario’s Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact: Vanessa Thompson, York University Media Relations, 647-654-9452, vthomps@yorku.ca