Rhea Mann: The Asian Canadian and Asian migration studies program would like to acknowledge that this podcast was recorded on the traditional unceded ancestral homelands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. We hope that as we continue to facilitate these conversations about Asian diaspora communities, we also engage in the critical dialog about what it means to be uninvited guests and settlers on these lands.
Nathan Ko: We would like to thank the Kwan Lee Excellence Fund for Asian Canadian and Asian migration studies. Rhea me and the entire ACAM team appreciate their generous support for this year’s ACAM podcast. You music. Hello and welcome back to the ACAM dialogs podcast. My name is Nathan
Rhea Mann: And my name is Rhea, today on our last episode of the year, Nathan and I will commemorate ACAM 10, the 10 year anniversary of the Asian Canadian and Asian migration studies department here at UBC.
Nathan Ko: This episode, we want to do something different. We sat down with Dr Laura Ishiguro and Dr Benjamin Chung. Laura is an associate professor in the Department of History and the director of Asian Canadian and Asian migration studies at UBC. So ACAM Ben is a lecturer in the Department of Psychology and teaches courses in psychology Asian Studies. And ACAM. She sees ACAM as a sort of nexus for his three different disciplines, which he loves to carry on.
Rhea Mann: Yeah and the special, this episode was really special because it was a larger conversation with just something we haven’t done here yet. And it was really cool to kind of talk to faculty members, and get to hear their takes and opinions, which is something that Nathan and I really enjoyed. Getting to hear them talk about ACAM as more of a community, really was just like a really nice conversation, and we hope you guys enjoyed and Nathan, what was your highlight?
Nathan Ko: Yeah, I think I really agree to I think something special from this conversation was the fact that they were just saying things about ACAM that as a student and as a member of ACAM that I was thinking about, and to hear the leadership of this department was really special. To hear all the thoughts that they had, how, like you said, they thought of it as a community, which I 100% agree with that, and it’s more than just a educational department, it’s one that is active and live in the community in Vancouver as well. So that was really special to hear them say. And it’s also just really nice to hear all the different highlights that they had throughout the year in various aspects of ACAM. And it really gave a nice view into what ACAM offers. So without further ado, let’s jump into the episode.
Rhea Mann: So welcome Ben and Laura to the ACAM dialog podcast. I know you guys have been featured slightly in episodes before, so maybe this is just welcome back, and we want to thank you for joining us today. We know it’s a very busy time of year with exams and things like that, so we’re really grateful that you came and joined us today on this episode.
Nathan Ko: Yeah, and we’re discussing like, the different highlights throughout the year for ACAM. But before we jump into that, if you could each individually like introduce yourselves. Tell us a bit about your role in ACAM and how you kind of got involved with it.
Laura Ishiguro: Sure. So thanks so much for having us. My name is Laura Ishiguro. I am the current director of the ACAM program, and I’m also a historian based in the history department here at UBC. And I’ve been involved with ACAM for the last six or seven years. And I’ve been teaching one of the core ACAM courses, ACAM 300 Since 2020 and then I’ve been director Since 2023
Nathan Ko: Yeah. How did you first get involved with the ACAM program in general?
Laura Ishiguro: I heard about it first through colleagues. So I arrived at UBC in 2012 which was right at that moment where UBC was granting honorary degrees to the Japanese Canadian students who’d been forcibly removed during the war. So I arrived as a Japanese Canadian historian and a Japanese Canadian community member in this moment of this really crucial honoring of former students of the University at my new employer. And so I was conscious of it, although my research at the time didn’t focus on Japanese Canadian or Asian Canadian histories, and then really just gradually found my way into community at UBC, the ACAM community, drew me in as a place where I felt nourished in the kinds of. Questions I had about myself, about my community and my family, about my work as a historian, about my work as a professor. And yeah, so I first kind of came in through through colleagues, and I had a camp students in my history courses, and they sparked a kind of curiosity and a hunger for the community. And then, yeah, then it just rolled from there. It deepened, deepened my commitments to to the program and to the people I found here
Rhea Mann: That’s amazing. I love that answer. Ben, can you also let us know a little bit about yourself and your your involvement with ACAM? Sure.
Ben Cheung: So I am Benjamin Cheung. I am a psychologist by training. I am so I’m primarily in the psychology department, but I also teach in ACAM, and I also teach a course, a new course, in Asian studies. I am also the ACAM minor advisor. And Laura made sure to remind me that by minor advisor, I did I am not a like an insignificant advisor, but it is simply because it is an ACAM minor, hence I am a minor advisor. My involvement with ACAM started with colleagues, actually. How should I this? Okay, story time. I basically got roped into a cam completely unbeknownst to like, what was to me, what was actually happening? A friend of mine, who was in the Wellness Center at the time, said, Hey, do you want to be on this faculty advisory board thing at this small program? It’d be cool. You can meet some people. And also senena assin end is on it. So this was around, I want to say, 2017 I was hired as a full time faculty in 2016 I think this is around 2017 and Sena assanen is a colleague of mine in the Department of Psychology, and has always been a mentor of mine, since when I was in grad graduate school, and after I was hired, she was appointed as my mentor in the first couple of years. And so I was like, oh sure, if Sena is doing it, then it must be something cool. I’m gonna go do it too. So I showed up and there were no other faculty members there. It was actually just me. And pretty sure, I think Chris was there. He was the only other faculty because he was a director at the time, so he kind of had to be there. So it was Chris, it was me, and then it was Sue, and I want to say Olivia, but I can’t remember. And then it was Diana, my friend from Wellness Center. And Holly. Now, Holly Kim and I looked around and I was like, why am I here? Where is this faculty advisory board? And apparently I was the faculty advisory board. So I, you know, I stuck around because I thought it was actually really, really interesting. It was kind of my first foray into being more academically engaged with Asian Canadian Studies and with the community of Asian Canadian Studies. And I’ve sort of just kept going, you know, my, my, my involvement in ACAM got even deeper when Chris asked me to teach a course on health, because it was something that they were looking for. And as it turns out later, something that Santa Ono specifically wanted as well, which, you know, no pressure this is, this was at an event when this was at a round table event that a cam was hosting on racism and in academia. And I was talking to Chris afterwards about some experiences that that sitting at that event sort of unearthed in my mind that I hadn’t thought about in a long time. And so we had a conversation, and he said, you know, you’d be great for it. You’re in Psychology and Social Sciences, you have that connection to, you know, thinking about health. And so that’s how I created what was a cam 320 B, and is now officially a chem 330, as a regularized, regularized course. So I’m very excited for that. Uh, there is more that I can share about the story, but I feel like that I’m getting off topic, so I won’t share more unless we have time for it later.
Rhea Mann: That’s amazing. Thank you so much. We probably will, so hopefully, hopefully we can learn more, a little bit, a little bit more about that later. So So, yeah, like, as you guys know, we are celebrating ACAM 10. So, 10 years of ACAM. And so specifically, we wanted to take a look back at this year. And ahead of the interview, we asked you guys what your highlights of ACAM events and things that occurred this year were. And so Laura, if you’d like to start off, you can, you can share your account highlight.
Laura Ishiguro: Yeah, and I will start by saying, what an impossible question to answer. I had originally started answering, and then I found myself just typing everything that we’d done over the last year and everything that had happened. But then I also wanted to say, you know, my highlights aren’t just what we did, but how we did it, who was there and how we connected with each other. And then I realized I’d written you many paragraphs, and you’d ask me for a highlight. So then I reeled it back and picked one thing, but I do want to say it’s all a highlight. One of the highlights for me is, if I’m honest, and an annual highlight, which is our ACAM grad. So this year, we hosted a cam grad at community space at 312 main in June. And it’s a tradition in the program that I love, because we’re a minor program, which means that all of our students graduate in different ceremonies in May, but also those who graduate in November. So it it’s unlike majors, where all of the psychology majors cross the stage in the same ceremony, our ACAM students graduate in in all the different ceremonies, right? So I love this tradition of gathering together in community so that we can celebrate the ACAM minors together. And it’s always, you know, alumni and other students are always there, and family and friends are there as well as colleagues, faculty, staff and other supporters at UBC. And it’s such a beautiful opportunity because it’s so personal, we can really connect on that smaller scale, we have a cam sashes. So there’s a sashing ceremony where each student comes up and a faculty member, they’ve chosen a faculty member who is important to them in their ACAM program, and that faculty member what’s the sash on them, and has an opportunity to say a few words, and then the graduating student has an opportunity to say a few words. And so I love this every year. It’s such a beautiful celebration of the work that they’ve done in a chem at UBC for themselves in community. But it’s also this moment of opening up a world what’s next. And I know that that feels like a lot of different things to graduating students, but it, for me, always feels like this incredible celebration. I’m so astounded by the people who graduate from the account program, all so phenomenally different, and all so phenomenal. And so for me, this highlight was just gathering together with the people who who were important to our new alumni, the class of 2024 and really hearing them talk with each other about their experiences, about what they saw ahead of them. And I just it’s so moving.
Nathan Ko: Yeah, I think that’s actually really cool. That you mentioned how it’s like, bringing together so many people. I think that’s actually one of the biggest things, the biggest and best things that ACAM does is the community aspect. I think ACAM does community really well. And it’s like, even though they’re graduating and moving on from post secondary, or at least undergrad. It’s like, it’s like a cheering on for their future. And also it’s really nice, obviously, when everyone can just come together and support each other. But yeah, like, that’s one of the biggest things. I wasn’t at the grad itself, but I just know that it’s so it’s like, not just like a say goodbye, but it’s like, Okay, now let’s continue our work. And then it’s nice to even see like them come back all the time to different events. So yeah, I really agree. That’s really cool.
Laura Ishiguro: And I will say like that is so at the heart of what ACAM means for me. I i. I always thought that. I always thought that I kind of operated in my own little bubble, and I didn’t realize how hungry I was for connection and community and a kind of family at work. I know family can be complicated, but I think the community isn’t just something that ACAM is. It’s something we do and our alumni, whether ACAM minors or simply someone who has taken one ACAM course, I think you’re in a community, and you’re always welcome, but it really is part of our values and our beliefs and part of how we understand what our work is at the university, beyond the university, from the University, I think it is, I think about it as one of Our major interventions in how academia so often operates. And it’s something that, from the foundation of ACAM, which is community driven, is is so important. Yeah, ACAM, ACAM grad, represents that for me too.
Nathan Ko: Yeah, that’s a really good point. It’s like a, like a signal fire for, like, what a camera presents as a whole so, yeah, that’s, that’s a really good point. Yeah, I guess moving on. Ben, would you like to share one of your highlights of the year for yourself?
Ben Cheung: Yeah. So, unlike, unlike Laura, I was not able to attend a lot of the events. I teach three classes, three courses, in one term, plus office hours. And all of that means I’m often either teaching or busy doing other teaching related things during a lot of ACAM events. But one event that I often try to make time for is the 320 showcase, the 320 J showcase that JP teaches, because I think it’s, it’s such a cool opportunity to see students learn how to put things into action. You know, when I teach my 320 when I taught my 320 b1, of the feedback that some students would give is like, Okay, we’ve learned all this stuff now. What? Like? What do we do with all of this? And in a way, I guess, my course wasn’t set up to bridge that gap, necessarily, to take that to the next step. And so I’m very, I was very happy that 320 J as studio course came out, because now the students who have that kind of energy, have that kind of motivation, can then take that and put it into action, which I think is fantastic, and it’s always just really, really exciting to see the broad representation that gets involved, that is involved in 320, j where, you know, we can see community organizations that represent different types of different types of what’s the word? I’m looking for different types of interests among different groups of Asian diaspora in Canada, and the very different types of programs that those organizations are running to benefit these different groups across Canada, these different groups of Asian diaspora in Canada. So I it’s just it’s always very inspiring for me to see what undergrads are capable of when given the opportunity. And one of the things that I try to do in my 320 course have been to, you know, help students think of themselves as agents of change, but that’s hard to do when there isn’t that kind of opportunity for them to become actual agents of change. And they’re seeing that kind of showcase at 320 J is a really cool way to see students actively becoming agents of change, where they are trying to help preserve cultural history, heritage history, or they are trying to actively create social support networks for, you know, gender diverse folks within Asian diaspora or whatever other kind of whatever, whatever other kind of of nonprofit organization they’re working with. So I’ve I enjoyed take going to the 320 J showcase last year. I, I thought the 320 J showcase this year was just as, was just as what was just as good as well. And if I’m able to fit it into my schedule in the future, I would always want to go to a 320 J showcase. Yeah, and shout out to you know, JP and Christina and all of them for running a fantastic class that in in, I think what is a very unique format that you don’t see often in an academic institution like this.
Nathan Ko: Yeah, for sure. Were there, like, any specific, I guess, projects or initiatives that you found in the showcase that, like you stood out to
Ben Cheung: I mean, they were all great, but one that stood out to me, it wasn’t from this year, not to say that this year’s ones weren’t stand out, but it the one that really stood out for me was One that I saw last year that involved Felicity, because it was involving the mango slice collective at a time when there was a lot of work around gentrification and cultural and displacement of cultural assets in the Renfrew Collingwood area, for Filipino Canadian, for the Filipino Canadian community in Vancouver. And you know, that’s, that’s close to my area, that’s, that’s close to where I live. And one of the one of the restaurants there that is going to be displaced is one of my spouse’s favorite restaurants. My spouse is also from the Philippines, and so there’s a lot of personal connections for me in terms of that project that Felicity was involved in. And so, yeah, that that really stood out to me, because I think there’s, there’s going to be more gentrification around vancou across Vancouver, and cultural assets are going to be displaced. Does that have to be a foregone conclusion, or is it possible to allow for certain types of economic development and residential densification with while also protecting the and recognizing the importance of important cultural assets in those neighborhoods. So, you know, I’m thinking about places like in Chinatown, of course, and what had been Japantown. And also thinking about the Renfrew Collingwood area, what that area is going to look like, because those things have all been pushed through at this point. So can we think about how to correct course in the future so that, so that kind of project that Felicity was involved in really got me thinking about that.
Nathan Ko: That’s a really fascinating idea, like the idea of, okay, the future is going to look like this one way or another. But how can we approach that future with like, a mindset of like respect, a mindset of like, collaboration? And I think that’s really cool, that like a showcase is able to just like express that and also empower like students, like you said like Felicity, to do work like that, which I don’t know, to me, sounds really great, and definitely I’d love to see those actually sounds like something I would want to see.
Laura Ishiguro: Sorry, I’m just gonna interrupt. I hadn’t thought about this, but there’s a common thread through both community showcases, the projects in both classes. And I was really thinking, you know, a number of ACAM alumni have gone into planning, but others do work with community organizations that that do advocacy around, you know, gentrification, protection of cultural heritage, but also, you know, historical research and support around heritage status and supporting community in the face of or being threatened by gentrification. So we see our students and our broader community engaged in these kinds of issues in a range of ways. But I was thinking, you know, this year’s projects. And there was a story mapping project in Chinatown and a project with the Punjabi market collective that we’re both engaged in. How do we think through the histories of these neighborhoods and their communities that are under threat? Yeah, and and the but the projects range so widely, from thinking through traditional medicine to food justice in neighborhoods. So I’m taking over Ben’s highlight here. I told you I had trouble picking but I think these are, these are live issues that our community partners and our students are thinking through in these ways, that, as Ben said, are really about being agents of change in the face of these conditions in which we find ourselves.
Rhea Mann: Yeah, and to kind of allow you to speak more about this, we wanted to ask you about the tributaries journal this year, especially because it was all kind of leaning into the theme of ACAM 10 so, so, yeah, like, why was that specifically a highlight for you? And kind of what was, what was significant or different about the journal this year? Because it’s a 10 year anniversary, yeah?
Laura Ishiguro: So sort of like ACAM grad, I see tributaries as an eternal highlight. It’s every other year. So it’s my bi-annual highlight. Tributaries is incredibly special to me in general, as something that is student organized, student run, student journal. So from our editors in chief and the editorial team all the way through the contributors. It really is this a material and digital showcase of the diverse work that our students do. So this year’s tributary is full of absolutely stunning work, from historical analysis to fiction to art, and I love it because it contains so much creative and incisive work that speaks to the interdisciplinarity of ACAM and the diversity of the students and just the brilliance of the students that come into and through our community. It’s beautiful. If you haven’t seen a copy of tributaries, you absolutely should. And so I honestly, I just open it sometimes, and I think, like, look at how stunning This is. And the designer in this year is Victoria Sen did a just gorgeous, gorgeous job in design as well as the editorial team and contributors. But what was special about this year’s, as you said, was they also envisioned it as a way to mark the 10 year anniversary of the program. So part of that was the issues theme of continuity, which contributors and editors thought through in a range of ways. And I really loved it, in the spirit of marking our first 10 years as a program, but also really thinking about sustaining, growing, nurturing and continuing in the work that we do. But it also included a number of features that were intended to really celebrate surface think through ACAM 10 itself, and so that included a really special interview with our program elders chosen grandparents, Mary and Tasha Kitagawa. It included timeline of some key moments in a camps history. And it also included the results of survey that the editorial team did with members of the ACAM community about their own highlights, special memories and hopes for the future of ACAM. And I’ll be honest, as somebody who is in the position of director and thinking about where we’re at and where we want to go. I go back to those pages often. I find them incredibly inspiring, and they light fires in the in a good way for me all the time, in in thinking about what our community is envisioning for the future that lies ahead of us. So I I just love it as marking this moment where we’ve come from, how we got here, where we are and where we want to go from here.
Rhea Mann: That was, that was perfect. I love that. And. Analysis and kind of review of the year. Yeah, I think that was awesome. I really enjoyed the interview of Mary and Tosh Kitagawa as well. I thought that was very profound. And so Ben, you also kind of mentioned to us that the vast screening this year was a highlight for you and ACAM. So we’d love to hear more about that as well.
Ben Cheung: Where do I begin? I think for me, part of my enjoyment of that event, yes, undoubtedly it was. It was the short films, but it was also the ability to be with community at the same time, like the having lunch together prior to the screening and watching these things together and then chatting about these films on the way out as well. Like I think that. I think this goes back to what Laura was saying earlier. It’s not just the events that we have, but how we do them. It’s not what we do, but how we do them. And so the vast event, it stands out to me partly because, like I said earlier, I’m not able to attend a lot of ACAM events just because of my schedule. And the ones that I attend really stand out to me. And this really stood out to me in particular because, I mean, I’m gonna say this, this was the first time that I set foot in a theater since the pandemic started, and I pretty sure the last film that I watched in a cinema was Black Panther. So it’s, it’s been a while, and so this was, this is notable for me as the first time I’m sitting set setting foot in a theater in a long time, and it’s with a bunch of great people, sharing great food together and watching some really, really impactful films as well. You know, I didn’t cry, but I was like an inch away from waterworks, and I think it really speaks to one the kinds of really interesting and fascinating and part string tugging stories that Asian Canadians can tell, or that people can tell about Asian Canadians. It also really speaks to how relevant a lot of the old issues still are right, whether we’re talking about things like maybe there’s still misogyny in the community, and how that impacts Asian Canadian women, whether it’s about intergenerational impact of internment and How that continues to persist, even till this day, and it was just such a nice, nice opportunity to see these stories told in such a vivid medium that that That was really evocative of a lot of really strong emotions that I think people don’t often realize they have about a lot of these big historical moments that have happened through our Canadian History, through Canadian, Asian Canadian history, and recognizing how people now still continue to wrestle with a lot of the the shadows of those historical events and and as as so I’m More of a recent settler. I came here with my family in the 1990s from Hong Kong, and I think that meant not and growing up in that era also meant not having a lot of exposure to a lot of this kind of Asian Canadian history, because it’s not something that was really brought up prominently, right? And one of the things that I ask in class when I teach 320 Sorry, I keep, I keep talking about 320 class. I’m not trying to plug it explicitly, but one of the. First things that I asked students is, you know, thinking about when they when they were going to elementary school or high school, secondary school, junior high, what proportion of that, or how often did they ever learn about Asian Canadian history, right, or black Canadian history or indigenous history in as they relate to Canada, and most people wouldn’t have said much, with the exception of, you know, the CPR, and I think now people are starting to talk more about Japanese internment, but that certainly wasn’t at all A discussion, a topic of discussion when I was in school in the 90s. And so I think it’s easy for people who grew up here in my generation, who didn’t really involve themselves with history when they grew older, to not even realize that these impacts are so current and continue to be so real. And so I appreciated the existence of these films and the effort that it took to create these films for educational purposes, for posterity and to allow the actors themselves to be able to express their experiences in a way that hopefully is cathartic for them, or serve some sort of, serve some sort of purpose for themselves. So I really, really appreciated the VAF screening event for so many reasons, for community reasons, for pedagogical, teaching reasons, so many things.
Nathan Ko: Wow, that’s a really beautiful reflection on, like, the experience. No, that was really good. Yeah, I think just to give some context for those who don’t know what the VAF is, the VAF is the Vancouver Asian Film Festival. And a couple of ACAM community members actually had some films that were screened. And so a bunch of us got together and went to go see them. So that’s kind of what Ben was referencing. But yeah, I totally agree with you. It was a really beautiful moment, and it really showed the power of, I think, media, film and like, even personally for me, like I went as well, and it really lit a fire. For Laura, you’ve talked about lighting a fire. But, yeah, it really led a fire for me to keep on trying to pursue different aspects of media, which I’m something I’m really passionate about, but seeing these films like you said, like it’s a way to teach people about really big topics that no one really talks about, like misogyny in like, in early like, Asian immigrants, right? And that’s something I never knew anything about, and that film really opened my eyes to this topic. So yeah, I really resonate with your reflection. And it was like, I agree. It was such a one of the best, yeah, just events and like, screening things I’ve been to this year too. So totally agree, and I’m really glad you brought that up too. But yeah, we could. Yeah, Laura, go ahead. Oh,
Laura Ishiguro: I’m now taking over Ben’s highlight here, but I am going to do formal promo. So I will say that interested in film, and if you’re interested in these films. In particular, one of our key ACAM 10 events will actually be in February 2025 so if you’re listening to this episode right away, you can mark your calendar for February 6. We’re hosting an event at UBC called 10 years of Asian Canadian community filmmaking. And one of the films we’re showing is Lucy kumori, which is one of the films that was in the VA screening as well. But it’s also going to include celebration of short films produced by ACAM students in ACAM 350 which is our community filmmaking class, which is another highlight for me, in 2024 the annual ACAM, 350 filmmaking, including Nathan’s amazing film, is also, you know, I think, as you said, Film is such a powerful moving medium for storytelling, for community engagement, and for communications and media work in general. So I realize I just turned that into such a formal promo instead of going through the conversation. But I do want to like I think this is another aspect of what is so. Amazing about our community and people in it.
Ben Cheung: I’m glad you did it, because I was going to do it, so at least you, you were able to do it all good.
Nathan Ko: No, we love the promo. We love the promo. Yeah, that probably is one of the I don’t know. I never saw any class like that in all of UBC, like all my time here, and when I found that class, I instantly was okay join. Yeah, if anyone is interested, and it’s a really low barrier class too, it’s you don’t need, like, any specific training, things like that, but it’s just a really good way to share, use your voice. I think that’s the most powerful thing. But yeah, we could go into so many different highlights throughout the year. We could spend hours on that. But I think to wrap up, we’d like to ask you both just one more question, specifically, like, I guess we celebrated ACAM 10, and now looking forward. Lori kind of mentioned about looking forward, but imagine a kind of the next 10 years. Like, what would where would you see the program go and like? What would you want it to look like? And if even you want to try to venture into this area, like, as you yourselves, where would you want to see yourself be involved with the change making, not necessarily in a camp, but just in general, as an individual in the Asian Canadian community? That’s a big question, but feel free to tackle however you like,
Ben Cheung: Four more years, four more
Laura Ishiguro: Okay, envisioning the future. I have a lot to say on this. I think I have so many hopes, dreams and plans, and I think at the core, I want to grow and nourish what I think is so special about ACAM. My dreams for ACAM are to grow our capacity and our community so that our people can do the work that is important to them and their communities. And to me, that is what makes us so special when we come together. And for me, it really is about what can we do to keep expanding our capacity to do that work, to do work in with for and by community in a good way, how we can continue connecting with amazing, brilliant, creative Students who have so much to offer so many curiosities, as Ben just hinted, in some cases, not even yet, knowing what they don’t know. But But more than that, really have the capacity to go out in the world and do the change making work. And I think one of the things that I find so moving about ACAM is how much has changed me. And so my vision in whatever role I play in ACAM over the next 10 years and beyond is really to be here in that spirit of humility and learning, where we do the work together, and we act from our values. We try to do the work in the good way. We hold on to that how and why we do the work, not just what we do. And I think that’s my really broad answer is, hold on to our values, care for our people and our communities, and build our capacity for doing the work that matters to us, which looks really different to different people. And I think that’s great.
I may have other answers here. Ben, does that give you space for part of the answer from you?
Ben Cheung: I actually thanks for saying that, because I was going to say I want to interject here so I no longer need to interject. I appreciate that. One thing that has really stood out to me is Laura keeps mentioning this one word, which is values. And I think what I always reflect on, what I always remember is at the start of the year, one of the at the first meeting. I think it was the first we’ve had so many, one of the first meetings that Laura and I had, when, when, when I took on the minor, not so minor, advisor role, Laura said to me, what’s. Most important in how I, you know, deal with student requests and student situations, is our values, that ACAM operates off of certain values, and that we need to keep that in mind, that I need to keep that in mind effectively when I’m considering, you know, do we grant this? Do we not grant this kind of request? What can we do for students? And so I’ve, I’ve always kept that in my mind. And I think any time that I go to any kind of of a cam event, the word values is constantly going through my head, because it the values, to me, is what sustains the community, and it’s the those are, that’s the glue that keeps the community together. I keep thinking about you might have a visionary individual who creates a program, who creates a, let’s say you have a leader in a new foreign country, or some something like that, or some sort of organization it take. It only takes the removal of that one person for all the cards to to fall, right? Because if all it is is about the person, then there’s it’s very difficult for that organization, that group, that community, to survive, to exist beyond that person, but when it’s built on values, and when the People in the community share those values, and when you know the torch is passed on emphasizing values, when the people who are in more positions of authority in that group all share those values and recognize the importance of those values, then the well being of that community, of that organization, can exist beyond the person, beyond whoever happens to be that leader. And I think Chris embodied those values. And when he was director, he very much, he very much acted out those values when JP, sorry, I have sirens going on in the back right now. When JP was interim director, he also embodies those values and communicated them in how he ran the program, and I think he carries that over to Acre. And I think Laura does the same thing, also embodies those values and acts them out in how she administers the program as program director, and I can only hope that, you know, for as long as Laura, I mean Laura, stay here forever in this role. But you know, if Laura decides I think I need to step away, everybody finds sees a time when they need to step away, when if, when Laura sees the time is imminent to step away that whoever takes over for a cam for the directorship also will embody those kinds of values and will carry those values forward. Yeah, so like, in terms of thinking about the future of a camp, I see it as a hopeful continuity. Continuation is the right word, continuation of the values. And if hard to articulate exactly what the values is, because it feels like it’s just the value is respect for community and care for community. And I think there’s a lot of subsidiary things that constitute what I just said, but that that’s sort of the approach that I think of with regard to ACAM and everyone else’s place in ACAM. So yeah, that continuing, that carrying that into the future, is what I hope. And what I would expect for a camp to look like in the future.
Laura Ishiguro: I love that, and I think for me, that care and respect piece is so much at the heart of this, because I think it is. We’re very much aligned with acre, the Center for Asian Canadian research and engagement their values around working with for and by Asian Canadian communities. And I think we think about that also as a minor program, but I think part of it, for me, is valuing community, but also our people, because I believe so much in our people, and I’m pointing at all of you and our community more broadly, and I think that what we have to offer is all so powerful, and part of the values that I bring to this is trying to care for that community, so that you have space to do the work that you think is important in your community, right? So I think that’s part of how I see this, and the other way that I would frame it is one of the ways I’ve started thinking about it is ACAM is not a topic, right? When I try to describe what the program is, our courses aren’t about Asian Canadians as a topic. They are part of the subject matter of the work that we do Asian Canadian Studies. But I think it really is inflected through this heart care and respect, and I think a belief that we matter, that we’re all valid and have something to offer, and that we do this work together in a good way. And for me, that that is our future as much as it is our origin story.
Ben Cheung: Yeah, and I tend to characterize a cam as as home, family. I know that people always talk about like your workplace is not your family. You know your colleagues are not your family, etc, etc, and I, and I totally get that, but I think ACAM occupies a very unique space in academia where it is not ex. How do I even explain this? It’s not a work oriented, academia oriented academic unit. It is a community relations oriented academic unit. It’s, it’s like a bunch of people who have a bunch of really cool people who I would hope care about and for each other, who just all happen to exist in some kind of academic unit, because that is the most convenient space for them to exist in. And it’s almost like people first, academia, second, and somewhere in the mix of those two is the work that we do. I definitely think of a chem much more as family at UBC and home at UBC, and I actively try to find ways to attend ACAM events. I try to make time and make room for ACAM events. And when there is an ACAM event that’s coming up, I get excited about going. So I mean, for example, recently the ACAM acre dinner get together thing that a bunch of us had at congee noodle house on Broadway. I was looking forward to that the moment that Shirley emailed everyone and said, Hey, we’re doing this thing. Five minutes later, I sent my RSVP and I put that on my calendar. And every day for those like two weeks, I can’t remember how long it was, I was like 10 more days, nine more days. And I think that is a sentiment that I appreciate having the privilege of having, and is not a sentiment that I imagine a lot of other people would have. Have with events that you their unit, whatever unit they are affiliated with, primary or secondary, are having.
Laura Ishiguro: This really reflects my experiences of ACAM and and part of the story of how I’ve deepened my involvement with ACAM over the years. Very similarly, ACAM is home for me, and it has been a lesson and a reminder in what home feels like and what it means, and I think a reminder of what I have to offer when I’m in connection, in community, when there is a sense of belonging and care, and I have found it intellectually inspiring. I have found it challenging in the best ways. I have found it has really driven and nourished me, not just in the work that I do in ACAM, but in the work that I do as a historian, as a faculty member, as a person, as a person in community. I’m so much better for this. And part of it has been how much I am nourished by that sense of ACAM as and I think at at the moment at which I started teaching my ACAM course, ACAM 300 was a moment where, I mean, it was an eventful moment globally. I first taught that in the fall of 2020, and so thinking through teaching and learning and students and classroom, but also thinking through Asian Canadian Studies, Asian Canadian history, in that moment. It’s really powerful. But it was also a moment where, personally, I was having what I might describe as a kind of disciplinary existential crisis, professional existential crisis. I was sort of looking at the next stage of my career and thinking through the possible paths ahead of me and really asking myself, How did I get here? Is this where I want to be? Where do I want to go? What is the work that’s most important for me to do? What am I most equipped to do? And it has been the community, the home, the belonging and the work itself in ACAM that has given me those answers that have been not to shape the work that I do here, but all of the work that I do and in the world. And I think that that for me, is the most powerful one of one of the ways in which ACAM has changed me.
Ben Cheung: See Laura. This is the benefit of being a lecturer. There is no next stage of my career. This is just lecture until I die. So I don’t even need to worry about that kind of existential crisis. It’s just, it’s just, this is it for me,
Laura Ishiguro: I feel like I have an infinite capacity for existential crisis anyway, but I hear what you’re saying.
Ben Cheung: I wanted to come back to that belonging piece that you’re talking about, because I think a sense of having a sense of belonging entails experiencing a level of comfort with others in that community where you are just yourself, you don’t have to project Any kind of image, and you’re just, you feel natural. And I think in academia, I don’t have many spaces where I can do that in I think a lot of spaces in academia, I feel the need to sound a particular way. I have to make sure that I sound smart, act smart, portray smart. Otherwise I worry about being looked down on. I worry about being not respected by colleagues. I worry about people thinking, Why is this person here? And I mean, I can ask myself those questions of how I would How did I get here? And why am I here? But I don’t want other people to be asking that of me. But when I, when I find myself in a cam contexts, never once do those concerns come up. I’m very much just who I am. I am very different when I am in a cam meetings compared to being in meetings in other academic contexts. I don’t feel the compulsion to have to say things, and to have to say certain things, because I just have things to say in a way that is very natural. And I think for many reasons, including these reasons, I feel an immense sense of belonging in a cam and that I absolutely fit in to the community, and I think That creates a lot of intrinsic motivation to want to do something that would be beneficial for that community as well,
Rhea Mann: amazing. So that was, like a wonderful little segment. We appreciate that, and that’s pretty much all we have. So to end off, hopefully we can all hold on to those sentiments you brought up of excitement about a cam, hope for the future of ACAM. Hold on to the values of it being a home and like feeling the belonging and and all of that. And just to say, thanks again to Ben and Laura for joining us for this episode on ACAM10 and making time and you guys are scheduled for our little episode. We appreciate it.
Laura Ishiguro: Thank you so much for having us. Ria and Nathan,
Ben Cheung: I will never say no to an opportunity to talk up ACAM. So I was, I was happy to do this.
Rhea Mann: Thank you all so much for joining us on this very special episode and celebrating ACAM10.
Nathan Ko: This will be our final episode of 2024 so we would like to wish you all a very happy holiday and a happy new year.
Rhea Mann: Yeah, to keep up with us at ACAM, in the meantime, please follow us on Instagram at UBC. ACAM, bye.