It was a rainy October day in Vancouver, BC when Dr. Satwinder Bains, director of UFV’s South Asian Studies Institute, stepped into a garage full of three million photos. “There’s maybe 100 boxes in there,” the photographer’s son, Vimal Bodalia, had guessed on the phone. It was 2021. Chandravadan “Chandra” Bodalia had passed away four…

Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains would be the first to say that none of the work at UFV's South Asian Studies Institute (SASI) is done with awards and recognition in mind. But, it's nice when it happens.  Satwinder has been the director of SASI for more than a decade, pursing her passion for telling the real…

Ishpreet unfurls five metres of electric blue cotton across a Best Western comforter. The turban unwinds like stories he's told in living rooms across B.C. Another early morning, another chance to change history. Fueled by a grant secured by the South Asian Studies Institute in collaboration with the Royal B.C. Museum (RBCM), Ishpreet Anand’s role…

Satwinder Bains has been appointed to the position of Principal, UFV India, effective September 1, 2017.Bains will provide oversight of UFV India academic operations and leadership for the faculty and academic staff team at the UFV campus in Chandigarh. She will work collaboratively with deans, directors and department heads responsible for academic programming delivered at…

Dr. Jon Thomas has been named the new BC Regional Innovation Chair in Canada-India Partnership Development at UFV. Working out of UFV’s South Asian Studies Institute, Thomas brings a wealth of international research experience to the position, which he plans on leveraging while fostering innovation and economic development throughout the Fraser Valley. “Success in this…

A crowd of excited community members spent Friday afternoon waiting patiently for a special visitor on the grounds of the Gur Sikh Temple national historic site on South Fraser Way in Abbotsford. And, at around 1:45 pm, they were rewarded as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emerged from a private tour inside the gurdwara to give…

UFV’s Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies began with an idea and a commitment from the community. Now, as it celebrates 10 years of serving as a centre of activity, events, information, scholarship, and research related to the Indo-Canadian community, it is extending its focus to embrace regions of South Asia. Centre director Satwinder Bains announced the…