South Asian Studies Institute
On September 25, the South Asian Studies Institute (SASI) welcomed community members together at the Matsqui Recreation Centre in Abbotsford for Chai & Chat with Dr. Asma Qadri, an afternoon of storytelling, conversation, and shared memories presented in partnership with the City of Abbotsford as part of Culture Days 2026. The gathering created an informal … Read more
The 4th annual Bajwa Dhami Building Bridges Community Golf Day took place on August 26th, 2023, and was a great success! The tournament successfully raised $62,865 for the SASI Research Fellowship. 92 players and 31 sponsors pitched in to help us raise the money for much needed research on areas that affect our communities. The … Read more
On July 1st, the Paldi Khalsa Diwan Society hosted a grand opening of the Paldi Historical Museum (located in the Paldi gurdwara) as part of the community’s annual Jor Mela. The museum space is in the Paldi gurdwara at 23 Paldi Road. The South Asian Canadian Digital Archive hosts multiple collections on Paldi: the Joan … Read more
On Sunday, May 7th, the SASI team attended the opening reception of the Haq and History exhibition at the Port Moody Station Museum. Haq and History is a collaborative exhibition created by the Royal BC Museum and the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley, as part of the South Asian … Read more
On April 13th, Honourable BC Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sports Lana Popham hosted a gathering of 120 community leaders and stakeholders to engage with them about the future of a South Asian Canadian Museum in BC. The first of its kind in Canada, the Museum will aim to reflect the diversity of the … Read more
On April 26th, the SASI was honoured to observe and celebrate Equality Day as part of the 2023 Dr. Ambedkar International Symposium on Emancipation and Equality Day Vancouver. This was the 20th year for the week-long International Dalit Conference held in Vancouver since 2003. In May 2023, people collected at a forum for academics and … Read more
To celebrate Sikh Heritage Month (2023), Historica Canada released a new Heritage Minute about the historic mill town of Paldi, BC. It is the first Heritage Minute to highlight a South Asian Canadian story as well as the first to be released in Punjabi (in addition to English and French). SASI Director Dr. Satwinder Bains … Read more
We are excited to announce that Rails, Jails, and Trolleys, a SASI-produced film, has been selected by the Feedback Female Film Festival (FFFF). The FFFF is dedicated to showcasing the best of female talent in the film industry. The film Rails, Jails and Trolleys documents history’s largest farmers’ protest and the Canadian diaspora’s response to … Read more
To bring awareness to the realities of human trafficking, the SASI was invited to partner with Dr. Rita Dhungel of the UFV School of Social Work and Human Services (SWHS), PEARL, Ally Global Foundation, the Race and Antiracism Network (RAN), and the UFV Student Social Work Association (SSWA) to host an event that invited panellists … Read more
By Satwinder Kaur Bains SASI hosted an afternoon panel and dialogue on the critically important topic of caste and anti-casteism as a relevant issue in the diaspora. The issue of caste discrimination has received critical attention at post secondary institutions in the US in the recent past and has become an area of discrimination recognized … Read more