The York Centre for Asian Research (YCAR) has announced the latest recipients of the Canada-China Initiatives Fund (CCIF).
Abidin Kusno
“The call for this third round was adjusted for the summer 2020 deadline to prioritize virtual events and workshops in light of the realities of our new academic landscape. We are pleased to be able to support a good range of topics that address critical issues related to injustices in both Chinese and Canadian society, social impacts of COVID-19 situation, and broader Canada-China relations,” said Abidin Kusno, Chair of the CCIF committee at YCAR.
All events will take place in this academic year.
Founded in 2019, the Canada-China Initiatives Fund (CCIF) was created to support scholarly exchanges and research on modern (i.e. post 1911) and contemporary People’s Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, their global reach, their linkages with Canada, or the experiences of the diaspora communities. It was created thanks to the generous support of the Asian Business and Management Program at York University.
The Redress Express: A Community Retrospective
This roundtable will bring together the community activists who were instrument in bringing about Canada’s formal apology for decades of discrimination and exclusion against Canadians of Chinese heritage. This is a continuation of the social conscience of Chinese community activism, and a further example of how marginalized groups model responsibility and agency in confronting racial injustices of society.
Organizer: Lorne Foster, School of Public Policy & Administration
Anti-Asian Racism during COVID-19: An Interdisciplinary Approach
Since the COVID-19 outbreak started, there has been a growing number of attacks towards people of Asian (especially Chinese) descent. The “Shadow Pandemic” of Anti-Asian Racism has exacerbated the mental health impact of COVID-19 on Asians. It is against this background that organizers will bring together leading and emerging scholars in a two-day virtual workshop to specifically address several questions including: What explains the rising anti-Asian racism during the COVID-19 pandemic and what policies can we develop to effectively mitigate the escalation of anti-Asian racism?
Organized by a team led by Xiao Alvin Yang, YCAR visiting graduate associate and PhD candidate, Universität Kassel
Looking Back and Forward: Perspectives on Canada-China Higher Education Relations
This joint York University-Massey College event will mark the 50th anniversary of the Canada-China diplomatic relationship. Canada was among the earliest major Western countries that established a formal relationship with China, and was the first major Western country that aided upgrading China’s higher education system in the 1970s and 1980s. The early-year one-way traffic in the form of educational aid has now evolved into a two-way traffic between Canada and China, whereby Canada has been benefitting from the bilateral educational relations. Canada-China higher education relations may now be threatened, owing to current geopolitical changes. Against this backdrop, a panel of renowned scholars and university leaders who study and/or concern about Canada-China higher education relations will gather and shed light on questions including how the might current geopolitical shifts impact Canada-China higher education relations, and what institutional responses and strategies are appropriate in this context?
Organizer: Qiang Zha, Education
姐姐,弟弟 Sister, Brother: Son Preference and Daughter Discrimination Among Chinese Canadians
This short play, written by Lauren Chang, is based on findings from her research on daughter discrimination and son preference among Chinese Canadians. It presents a discussion between siblings about their experiences of daughter discrimination and son preference and aims to spark discussion and bring awareness to gender discriminatory attitudes in Chinese Canadian communities. The joint York-University of Guelph production play will be performed by York students through online conference platforms, followed by a facilitated discussion allowing audience members to share their own experiences with daughter discrimination and son preference, and imagine potential ways forward for the Chinese Canadian community.
Organizers: Sharada Srinivasan, YCAR research associate and Canada Research Chair in Gender, Justice and Development, University of Guelph; Lauren Chang, University of Guelph graduate
The CCIF also provided seed funding for Platform Politics: Public Perception of Chinese Tech Companies in the National News Discourse project. The slowdown in the global economy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the narrative of fears and national security concerns in the West about the transnational business operation of Chinese tech companies, particularly with inevitable integration of Internet of things and communication platform into everyday life and global trade activities. In this project, researchers Lianrui Jia (Communication & Culture) and Tokunbo Ojo (Communication Studies ) will be exploring the public perception of Chinese technology companies in the national news discourse in Canada and U.S.
The CCIF is open to all faculty and students at York University. The next deadline for applications is Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2021. For more information about the CCIF, visit https://ycar.apps01.yorku.ca/canada-china-initiatives-fund/.