Engagement Initiatives - Centre for Asian Canadian Research and Engagement (ACRE)

As a centre dedicated to the exploration and celebration of Asian Canadian experiences, we recognize that meaningful engagement with community partners is essential for fostering a rich tapestry of knowledge, perspectives, and resources.

ACRE has an expansive understanding of community. Faculty, students, alumni, and staff are all part of the ACRE community as are various community organizations, cultural institutions, and grassroots activists. Working closely with all of them we strive to ensure that our research and advocacy are rooted in lived experiences, responsive to community needs, and inclusive of diverse voices. Explore our various community engagement initiatives and learn how you can contribute.

Faculty and Student Support

The following funds support ACRE’s twin goals of enhancing faculty and graduate student capacity for research on, for, and with Asian Canadian communities. Additionally, it supports work that critically examines and expands on the scope of Asian Canadian studies from equity and intersectional perspectives.

Faculty Initiatives Fund

Each applicant of the Faculty Initiatives Fund can apply for up to $2,500, with a maximum total of $25,000 of FI funding to be disbursed for this pilot round.

ACRE Graduate Fellows Program

The 2025-26 ACRE Graduate Fellows Program will run from October 15, 2025 to June 30, 2026.

Past Initiatives

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Faculty Socials

To facilitate connection and collaboration among faculty who work broadly in the field of Asian Canadian and Asian Migration studies and/or with Asian Canadian communities, ACRE hosted a series of social events throughout the years. These gatherings created opportunities for faculty members from a wide variety of disciplines to connect, exchange ideas, and build sustained relationships that help advance research, teaching, and critical intervention in Asian Canadian Studies and beyond.

Graduate Student Travel Fund

In 2023–2024 and 2024–2025, ACRE offered two rounds of a pilot funding program for graduate students who work broadly in the field of Asian Canadian and Asian Migration studies and/or with Asian Canadian communities. The fund supports ACRE’s twin goals of enhancing graduate student capacity for research on, for and with Asian Canadian communities, and for work that critically examines and expands the scope of Asian Canadian studies, especially from equity and intersectional perspectives. The success of these two rounds of the travel fund led to the creation of the ACRE Graduate Fellows Program that was launched in October 2025.

Graduate Student Socials

To enhance graduate student experience and foster a stronger sense of community, ACRE hosted a series of graduate student socials for those studying under the broad banner of Asian Canadian Studies. Bringing together students from different programs across campus, these events aimed to combat academic silos, encourage collaboration, support interdisciplinary engagement, and facilitate a sense of belonging for graduate students.

2025 MoV Cultivating Connections: Collaborative Gardening as Community Engagement

In 2025, ACRE celebrated its 5-year long collaboration and partnership with the Museum of Vancouver over the backyard garden exhibition. This event featured a panel conversation including four generations of ACRE research assistants who helped program around the garden.

For more information, see this page.

2024 AAAS Conference Bubble Tea Social

On April 25th, 2024, ACRE sponsored UBC faculty and graduate students to attend the 2024 Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS) conference. ACRE also hosted a bubble tea social to build community across these diverse scholars and share joy under the umbrella of Asian North American studies.

2022 ACRE Launch: Reimagining Asian Canadian Futures

In this panel discussion with academic, alumni, and community leaders, (Dr. JP Catungal; Elder Larry Grant; Dr. Santa Ono; Dr. Gage Averill; Mary Kitagawa, OBC; Dr. Stefania Burk; Belle Cheung; Dr. Laura Ishiguro; Dr. Sharanjit Sandhra; Y Vy Truong; Dr. Henry Yu) we celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the 2012 Honourary degree ceremony for the 1942 Japanese Canadian students and the launch of the newly founded Centre for Asian Canadian Research and Engagement.

Panelists also explored how we can collectively shape Asian Canadian futures connecting the past and the present. Together, panelists discussed the role of community engaged research in the pursuit of more socially just futures for Asian Canadian communities through their various perspectives as organizers, academics, and cultural producers. Panelists also reflected on their involvement in community engaged research on Asian Canadian studies to explore the kinds of principles and commitments are needed to build strong, ethical, reciprocal, and mutually beneficial relationships between mainstream academic institutions and community organizations.