SFU David Lam Centre > Connections

Connections

The David Lam Centre has an active relationship with a number of institutional organizations. All of them share a basic interest in enriching intercultural dialogue and understanding. To that end they variously support research, teaching and the organizing of forums in which scholars can exchange insights.

Asia-Canada Program, SFU
Department of Humanities, SFU
Institute for the Humanities, SFU
David C. Lam Institute for East-West Studies
Chinese Canadian Stories: Uncommon Histories from a Common Past (A UBC Library and SFU Library Initiative)
DocuAsia

Asia-Canada Program

This program, which is affiliated with the Department of Humanities at Simon Fraser University, was founded on the belief in both the importance and complexity of intercultural understanding and trans-Pacific relations. British Columbia, most especially in Vancouver and its suburbs, continues to undergo a major demographic shift through which the legacy of Asian cultures will be increasingly important to the experience of all its citizens. For Canadians of Asian heritage the program provides a means to develop a fuller understanding themselves as Canadians with an Asian heritage.

Asia-Canada Program website

Department of Humanities

In 2007 external reviewers described the Department of Humanities as clearly a shining star with a clear, dynamic focus. Founded in 1999 this department provides SFU undergraduates with a unique opportunity to undertake studies addressing broad human concerns across historical, religious, geographic and disciplinary boundaries. This vision unites the diverse expertise of scholars from disciplines of Literature, Religious Studies, Asian Studies, Philosophy, Cultural Studies and European History. Scholars and students in the Department of Humanities see great value in moving beyond the post-war institutional culture of traditionally confined disciplines to address a wider range of concerns by embracing the virtue of flexibility and diversity in academic enquiry.

Institute for the Humanities

The Institute for the Humanities began in 1983 as a home for research, public programming and for the development of ideas concerning social issues. The Institute was one of the first such Institutes in Canada to pursue these goals. The mandate to build audiences for the humanities in the public sphere has been carried out along four broad interrelated themes: humanities and modernity; community education; cultural roots of violence and non violence; human rights and democratic development.

Lam East West Institute Hong Kong Baptist University

LEWI is affiliated with Hong Kong Baptist University, a government funded university with a Christian heritage. It aims at fostering research in East-West studies and cultivating collaborative scholarship between the East and the West. As the pace of globalisation intensifies and inter-cultural, inter-ethnic and inter-religious encounters accelerate, the work of LEWI has manifested itself in a significant manner in recent years. With Hong Kong as its base, LEWI aspires to become a global leader in multi-disciplinary and cross-cultural studies through constant academic interactions with universities worldwide.

Hong Kong Baptist University

Hong Kong Baptist University, a government funded university with a Christian heritage. It aims at fostering research in East-West studies and cultivating collaborative scholarship between the East and the West. The David Lam Centre at Simon Fraser University is one of a consortium of research centres located in universities around the world and Hong Kong Baptist University is the Host Member of that consortium.

CONSORTIUM MEMBERS

Founding Members

  • Baylor University
  • Ohio University
  • Simon Fraser University
  • Tsinghua University
  • University of Leeds
  • University of Strathclyde
  • University of Western Sydney

Corporate Members

  • Lund University
  • Mercer University
  • Swinburne University of Technology
  • Universiteit van Amsterdam

Associate Members

  • Ateneo de Manila University
  • East China Normal University
  • Fudan University
  • Jilin University
  • Keimyung University
  • Lanzhou University
  • Nanjing University
  • Peking University
  • Shanghai University
  • Sichuan University
  • Tunghai University
  • Wuhan University
  • Xiamen University
  • Xi'an Jiaotong University
  • Yunnan University
  • Zhongshan University

Chinese Canadian Stories: Uncommon Histories from a Common Past

A UBC Library and SFU Library Initiative

“Chinese Canadian Stories – Uncommon Histories from a Common Past” is a collaborative project between the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and various campus and community-wide partners. This project will reshape the way all of us understand Canada, and reclaim the forgotten histories of peoples who have long been ignored in Canadian history.

The David Lam Centre is working with Chinese Canadian Stories at UBC to format our Chinese Canadian history materials for the internet so that the information can be accessed through the UBC web portal funded by the Community Historical Recognitions Program of Canada Citizenship and Immigration. We anticipate that this facet of our project will extend over a period of several years as more information is gathered and can be made available through the wen portal.

DocuAsia

The David Lam Centre has partnered with Cinevolution Media Arts Society, a grassroots organization that champions independent documentary film. Together we present the annual DocuAsia Forum.

Entering its third year, the DocuAsia Forum is the first annual film event in Metro Vancouver focusing on sensitive and relevant social issues concerning contemporary Asia. By bringing together filmmakers, artists, academics, community representatives, and the general public, DocuAsia provides a platform for informed dialogue concerning the current cultural and economic development in Asia, and global implications for the future.

DocuAsia Forum tells stories about Asia in ways that brief news clips and often-polarized popular commentary simply cannot. Discussion in public spaces, initiated through interaction with thoughtful independent documentary film, provides a powerful opportunity for substantive reflection and communication that will nurture deeper intercultural understanding through a sense of shared purpose.