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South Asian Studies Institute

Archive

Current Archive

2016

Reluctant Rebellions: New and Selected Non-fiction by Shauna Singh Baldwin

Sikh Heritage Museum Exhibit Launch: Evolving Interpretations: Sikhism and Women on March 6th, 2016

Lost Heritage: The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan, by Author, Amardeep Singh on May 31st, 2016

2015

(Mis)Interpretation: Sikh Feminisms in Representations, Texts and Lived Realities, September 29th, 2015

BETRAYED: Portraits of Strength, An exhibition and stories of human trafficking based on the photography of Tony Hoare

100 Year Journey: Conversations Along the Way, September 26th, 2015

CICS Partners to Celebrate International Women's Day on March 8th, 2015

CICS Presents Ehsaas Readers and Writers Festival featuring Shauna Singh Baldwin, March 3rd, 2015

CICS Presents Duty, Honour, Izzat: The Call to Flanders Field Exhibition Launch, January 27th, 2015

CICS Presents Marie Curie Lectures, January 12th, 2015

CICS Launches Exhibition Canadian Sikhs in WWI: The Forgotten Story, January 18th, 2015

2014

CICS collaborates to bring International Women's Day and One Billion Rising celebrations,March 8th, 2014

Ehsaas Film Screening brought to you by SAPNA (South Asian Peer Network Association) and UFV India, March 7th, 2014

Komagata Maru Centennial Launch and Sikh Heritage Museum Exhibition Opening, January 26, 2014

Charting Imperial Itineraries 1914-2014: Unmooring the Komagata Maru, May 15th, 2014

Justice Denied/Collusion Denied, 30 years later: Reflecting on 1984 anti-Sikh pogroms, November 1st, 2014

From Lost Childhood to Uncertain Future, October 27th, 2014

That Land Beyond the Waves, November 1st and 2nd, 2014

Punjabi Spiritual Music and the Sacred/Secular Divide, November 21, 2014

2013

The Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies Presents its Published Book, A Soldier Remembers . November 30th, 2013

Ehsaas South Asian Readers and Writers Festival,  November 21st, 2013

The Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies Presents Jaspreet Singh, Author of Helium,  October 10th, 2013

GirlKind Foundation and the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies Present Every Girl Matters DayFriday, October 11th, 2013

Ghadar Cenetial Conferemce 2013, October 17th, 2013 

Sikh Heritage Museum Exhibition Opening: Commemorating the Ghadar Centennial, September 8th, 2013 

Invitation to fourth exhibition opening of the Sikh Heritage Museum, June 30, 2013

Dalit Poetics and Politics: Conference of Academics, Creative Writers & Activists, April 12, 2013

"It's a Man's Problem" A Conversation on Male Perpetrators of Partner Violence, April 2nd, 2013

Get Naked at UFV International Women`s day,  March 8th, 2013

"Canadian Sikhs: The Turban Challenge" exhibition by Sikh Heritage Museum, January 20th, 2013

Interfaith Dialogue: Sacred Texts and Religious Expressions by The Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies, March 11, 2013

2012

CICS collaborates with Abbotsford Heat for a game of hockey in celebration of Vasakhi, April 4, 2012

International Women's Day Celebrations, March 8, 2012

Chai time Topic: Spirituality in modern age, March 5, 2012

Guest Lecture by Dr. Uttam Panda on Role, Conflict, Stress and their Coping Strategies: An Indian Perspective, Feburary 22, 2012

2011

Commemorating 100 years of the Gur Sikh Temple entennial archive

Official opening of the Sikh Heritage Museum in Abbotsford by Lt. Gov S.L. Point, Decemeber 17, 2011

Indian Classical night. CICS invites 2 renowned artists from India for an evening of Indian Classical music, November 23, 2011

Seventh Annual South Asian Film Festival showcasing Sikh documentaries, November 15, 2011

CICS collaborates with Instutite for Understanding Sikhism (Quebec) and holds conference on Guru Nanak's Philosophy & Science, November 5, 2011

Opening of the exhibit at the Reach on Punjabi Arts and Culture, October 27, 2011

Ali Kazimi launches his book Undesirables at the Reach Gallery, October 27, 2011

Chai Time: Vulernable Brides marriage across borders, October 24, 2011

Diwali, October 20, 2011

Centennial Conference: Transnational Punjab in the 21st century, May 5-7, 2011

Constructions and Contradictions: Negotiation of identity, ethnicity and nationality by South Asian youth, May 7, 2011

2010

Computer Analysis & Synthesis of the Punjabi Language by Dr. Surinder Dhanjal, November 9, 2010

Gandhi and C.F. Andrews-a Friend of India by Gilli McLaren, November 17th, 2010

Ehsaas Film Festival, October 13, 20,27 and November 10, 2010

SAPNA presents Diwali, November 5, 2010

On the CASE Photo Reception and Exhibition, October 26-29, 2010

Play at the Reach: That Time of Year, October 22, 2010

A call to preserve the hertiage of Punjab by preseving Shajjra Nasb (Kursee-Nama) Records, July 17, 2010

Diasporizing Punjab, Disorienting Bhangra, May 2010

2009

Reading at UFV by Author M.G. Vassanji, November 20, 2009

Ceremony Held at CICS in Memory of 1984, November 3, 2009

Installation of Sikh Holy Texts: Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, October 21, 2009

CICS Celebrates Diwali, a Festival of Lights, October 16, 2009

Visit by Consul General, September 24, 2009

Reminiscences of the Mysore Palace: An evening with Princess Urmilla Devi, September 28, 2009

Speakers from Orissa Share Views, June 22, 2009

Symposium on "Fragmented Lives along the India-Pakistan Border: Some Observations", June 4, 2009

Celebrate International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, March 23, 2009

Ehsaas: South Asian Film Festival, March 9, 16, and 23, 2009

UFV hosts Interfaith Dialogue, January 26, 2009

2008

UFV marks anniversary of ‘Continuous Journey’ — Canada’s blockage of  South Asian immigrants, Novemeber 21, 2008

Diwali Festival of Lights, October 23, 2008

Udaari Pioneer Exhibition - BC 150 Event, October 24, 2008

Comedy Night, October 27, 2008

Kiran Ahluwalia in concert, July 25, 2008

Celebrated author Anita Rau Badami visits UFV, March 31, 2008

Consultation Report Abbotsford Youth Forum, February, 2008

Study Tour to India, Februrary 2008

CICS hosting career fairs, January 13, 2008

2007

Writer in Residence Event - South Asian Writers, November 16, 2007

UFV to host Afghan member of parliament and women’s rights activist Malalai Joya, November 2, 2007

Student Advisory Committee for the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies at UFV, October 27, 2007

National Historic Site of Canada – Abbotsford Sikh Temple Visit, September 25, 26, 27, 2007

Asia Month , May 2007

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, March 21, 2007

(Mis)Interpretation: Sikh Feminisms in Representations, Texts and Lived Realities, september 29, 2015

You are all invited to attend the opening reception for 'Haq and History' an exhibit designed by the Royal BC Museum in partnership with the South Asian Studies Institute. The exhibit's will be displayed at UFV's S’eliyemetaxwtexw Gallery from January 15th until February 13th, 2020.

WHEN: Opening reception - Wednesday, February 5th 

TIME: 6pm - 7:30pm

PLACE: UFV S’eliyemetaxwtexw Gallery, UFV Abbotsford Campus, room B136

‌‌

 

 

 

 

'WE ARE HOCKEY' Exhibit Closing: Family Day

Join us as we celebrate the successful run and closing of the 'We Are Hockey' exhibit at the Sikh Heritage Museum, National Historic Site, Gur Sikh Temple.

This free Family Day event will include hockey tips by the first NHL South Asian Canadian player Robin Bawa and President of Apna Hockey Lali Toor, commentators of Hockey Night in Canada Punjabi Edition, screening of ‘Breakaway’ with Director Jenny Lee, the Canucks Community Caravan and a live-on-location by Sportsnet Radio's Randip Janda and Dan Riccio (Reach Deep/650).

All are welcome, bring your family, children and loved ones.

WHEN: (BC Family Day) Monday, February 17th
TIME: 1 – 4PM – free event, open to all
PLACE: Sikh Heritage Museum, National Historic Site Gur Sikh Temple, 33089 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC

RSVP: sasi@ufv.ca

Ehsaas Film Festival: Shakespeare and Indian Cinema

 
WHERE: B101 Theatre, UFV Abbotsford Campus, 33844 King Road Abbotsford
WHEN: Wednesday, March 4, 11, 18
TIME: 6PM - 9PM
 

Come join us for this free event (three films over three weeks) which brings together Indian Cinema and Shakespeare. After each film screening join UFV faculty who will be providing context and conversation.

ALL are welcome

FILMS:

Maqbool (adaptation of Macbeth) on March 4th, 2020
Haider (adaptation of Hamlet) on March 11th, 2020
Ram-Leela (adaptation of Romeo and Juliet) on March 18th, 2020

Email sasi@ufv.ca for more information.

 

The SASI invites you to a virtual book launch of "The Sikh Next Door: An Identity in Transition" by Dr. Manpreet J. Singh

The Sikhs have been a people in transition. Unwanted displacements, willing movements and a changing world have led them through demographic, occupational and experiential shifts. While this has led to the evolution of new facets within the community, it has also evoked mixed responses from outside. As new generations of Sikhs engage with the world through sensibilities defined by their contemporary contexts, they find themselves constructed in images dissonant with their lived realities. The Sikh Next Door: An Identity in Transition traces these changes while also making an incisive analysis of old stereotypes—some heroic, some menacing and some farcical. The work attempts to reframe the Sikhs, bending a few existing narratives and offering an impetus for a more nuanced understanding of the community.
 
Dr. Manpreet J. Singh did her M.Phil. in English from Guru Nanak Dev University and PhD in English from Mumbai University. She has taught in various institutions, most recently at Mata Sundri College, Delhi University. As South Asia Diaspora Fund Senior Research Fellow from ICSC Mumbai and CICS UFV, she worked on Sikh diaspora in British Columbia. Her extended research paved the way for The Sikh Next Door: An Identity in Transition, published by Bloomsbury Academic, India. She has two previous books to her credit - The Golden Arc, a collection of poems
and Male Image Female Gaze: Men in Shashi Deshpande’s Fiction.
 
Special Guest speaker will include Dr. Kanwal Singh Neel: 
Dr. Kanwal Singh Neel is a career educator who has served as a teacher with the Richmond School District, and the Associate Director of Professional Programs in the Faculty of Education Dr. Kanwal Singh Neel is a career educator who has served as a teacher with the Richmond School District, and the Associate Director of Professional Programs in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University (SFU), Vancouver, Canada. He is currently a coordinator with SFU’s Friends of Simon, an outreach program where university students tutor and mentor immigrant and refugee children after school. Kanwal has been a tireless volunteer for over 50 years in the South Asian community. He was coordinator for the 75th Anniversary of the Komagata Maru Incident. He has won many awards including the Prime Minister's National Award for Teaching Excellence in Science, Technology and Mathematicsat Simon Fraser University (SFU), Vancouver, Canada. He is currently a coordinator with SFU’s Friends of Simon, an outreach program where university students tutor and mentor immigrant and refugee children after school. Kanwal has been a tireless volunteer for over 50 years in the South Asian community. He was coordinator for the 75th Anniversary of the Komagata Maru Incident. He has won many awards including the Prime Minister's National Award for Teaching Excellence in Science, Technology and Mathematics.
 
WHEN: Wednesday, October 21st 
TIME: 8PM PST
Zoom Link for the Event: Meeting ID - 940 7518 4162 | Passcode - 289870
https://zoom.us/j/94075184162?pwd=a3NEM1oxNEUyWVlhdGw4dG9GQ2J0dz09
 
CASTE, DIASPORA AND THE FUTURE
SASI Fourth Symposium
 
WHEN: Wednesday, December 2nd
TIME: 10AM - 12PM (PST)
 
The issue of caste has resurfaced as a determining marker of identity among the diasporic Indian community. It had always existed, albeit in obscure forms. However, in the recent decades it has taken a robust turn through cultural artefacts and rehashing of a caste pride in a mostly white majority culture. A counterculture under the vestige of Ambedkarite, Dalit-consciousness provided a direct critique to the caste equations in the diasporic society.
 
In this talk Dr. Yengde takes a look at the kinetic sources of caste and its porosity among the diasporic Indian society. The ambiguity of caste identity was so ingrained in the habits of ‘lower castes’ diaspora that it was left to forgetfulness. However, the cultures and lived realities of oppressed caste groups remained intact in their worship, eating habits and intermarriages among others.
 
One significant departure of the Dalit or Shudra diaspora was the obfuscation of lowest categories attributed to them. However, the question endures: how well did the categorical smokescreen help in penetrating a dominant caste oppression under the guise of minority person of color?
 
Dr. Yengde’s presentation will be followed by a Q&A moderated by SASI Director Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains.
 
All are welcome to attend this free online lecture
 

SOUTH ASIA RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

‌November 30, 2018 at UFV Abbotsford Campus

9 – 5 pm

The South Asian Studies Institute (SASI) invites abstracts for its second South Asia Research Symposium. Building on the 2017 symposium which invited scholars to reflect on their idea(s) of the understanding and representation of South Asia in Canada, we open a broader conversation about how we address South Asia and South Asian Canadians’ evolving experiences across different disciplines, sectors, and modes of expression.
‘South Asia’ as a region in part is a complex enigma when it becomes attached to Canadian diaspora experience(s). This call for papers seeks scholarly work that:

  • Critically examines the ways in which specific disciplines reflect, investigate, teach and research South Asia and evolving South Asian Canadian Diaspora experiences and narratives
  • Investigates and interprets the evolution of ways in which South Asian Canadians define, explore and represent themselves as South Asian Canadian
  • Responds to whether there are coherent body politics that adopt a taxonomy of ‘South Asian Canadian’ and the ensuing ramifications

Our aim is to continue the dialogue on the intersections between retrospection, identification, and aesthetic within Canadian teaching, research, performance, critique and translation.

If you are interested in registering for this symposium, please email: sharanjit.sandhra@ufv.ca

 

S‌ASI Symposium 2017

The theme for the 2017 symposium is Sharing Our Understanding of South Asia as a geographic, cultural, political, economic, linguistic, religious, diasporic, historical and contemporary phenomenon. 

Important Dates: 

Submission of abstract: October 15, 2017 

Acceptance of response: October 30, 2017

Symposium: November 30, 2017 2-6pm 

Where: SASI Seminar Room F125

You are invited to our first open house

Open house poster

Join us in our first open house since our rebranding.

All are welcome - do drop by

When: Thursday, 7th of September, 2017: 1 pm-5 pm
Where: F125, Uhouse, South Asian Studies Institute, Abbotsford campus.

Schedule: 3:00 pm - Cake cutting
                   3:15 pm - Speakers
                   3:30 pm - Bhangra performance

*Refreshments will be served

Contact or email: Sharanjit.Sandhra@ufv.ca for more information.

‌South Asian Canadian Digital Archive, ‌‌Knowledge Mobilization Workshop

workshop poster
When: 24th and 25th of August, 2017
Hosted by: South Asian Studies Institute, University of the Fraser Valley
Centre for India and South Asia Research and Department of Asian Studies, University of British Columbia
Royal BC Museum, Victoria, BC.


SACDA workshop program‌.

A gathering of Poets and Writers on 5 Oct at UFV Abby campus



‌Readings and discussion in English and Punjabi

When: October 5th, 2017, 3:00-6:00 pm
Where: Room F-125, University House, University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford

Poster for South Asian Global Forum

Between Indigenous and Immigrant: South Asian Migrations in Global History

‌Keynote: Gaiutra Bahadur, Conjure Women and Coolie Women

When: Thursday, 26 Oct 2017 4:30-6:00 pm

Where: DSB C126

Free and Open to the Public

Due to Limited Space - Friday and Saturday Workshop Registration Required:
http://globalsouthcolloquium.org/registration
Friday, October 27, 2017, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. (Fraser 152 & 142)
Saturday, October 28, 2017, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. (Fraser 142)

Email: southasianmigrationscolloquium@gmail.com
http://globalsouthcolloquium.org/south-asian-migrations-colloquium/

View our detailed brochure.

 


A play, written and performed in Punjabi by Mazhar Tirmazi

Focusing on the separation from homeland and longing for it in the context of Partition of 1947, Mazhar Tirmazi's Ummran Langhiyan Pabbhan Bhar [A Lifetime on Tiptoes] draws attention to syncretic cultural values and human interaction that can forge connections in a world marred by violence, prejudice, and communalism.

When: Sunday, 8 Oct 2017 2:00-3:30 pm
Where: Matsqui Centennial Auditorium, 32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford

Desis in the Diaspora 

Please join us for artist talk and keynote address.

Featured Exhibit by Jagdeep Singh Raina 

A new Legacy Hall will be unveiled. 

When: Sunday, June 10th, 3-5pm

Where: Sikh Heritage Museum National Histroric Site Gur Sikh Temple, 33089 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford BC

Amardeep Singh's latest book "THE QUEST CONTINUES: LOST HERITAGE The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan‌" motivates all communities to become aware of their past, and through it, learn to live in harmony for mutal progress.

 Learn more about the book at the book launch and get a chance to interact with the author- Amardeep Singh 

 When: Saturday, March 24, 12-2pm 

 Where: Gur Sikh Temple 33089 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford BC

 All are welcome 

 Copies of both books will be available for cash purchase.

 

History Missed Her Story - Gendered Perspectives on the Indian Diaspora in East Africa - A Lecture by Dr. Renu Modi 

Date: May 28, 2018

Time: 1-2pm

Venue: South Asian Studies Institute, Room F125, Abbotsford 

UFV Campus 

This presentation attempts to highlight the role of women who immigrated with their entrepreneurial husband

and families to East Africa in the late 19th and early 20th century. Through a study of select auto-biographical
writings by Asian businessmen, it showcases the relentless determination of these entrepreneurs and their endeavours
to achieve business goals and thus make visible the positive role of Asians in the economic development of East Africa.

 

You are all invited to attend a reading from the winning authors and finalists of the 2018 Dhahan Prize for Punjabi Literature

Wednesday, October 24th, 2018

5pm

South Asian Studies Institute

University of Fraser Valley

33844 King Road, Abbotsford, BC

Room F125 Uhouse

UFV Research Encounters lectures focus on innovation — Nov 20 and 29

The Research Encounters series will feature one UFV faculty member and one guest lecturer from India.

Dr. Jon Thomas, who holds the BC Regional Chair in Canada-India Partnership Development at UFV and is a faculty member in the School of Business, will speak on Tues, Nov 20, from 4 to 6 pm, in University House (Room F124) on the UFV Abbotsford campus.

Dr. Thomas will speak on the topic of Building an Innovation Ecosystem.

“Innovation and entrepreneurship are increasingly important in a rapidly changing world,” he notes “The Fourth Industrial Revolution will transform existing industries and create new ones. How can universities, firms, governments, and individuals be better prepared to benefit from this transformation?”

Join Dr. Thomas as he discusses the need to build an innovation ecosystem to accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship in the Fraser Valley.

Dr. Arjun Kalyanpur, a visiting lecturer from India, will speak on Thurs, Nov 29 from 4 to 6 pm, also in University House (Room F124) on the UFV Abbotsford campus.

His topic will be Teleradiology: options for Canada and the story of a start-up.

Dr. Kalyanpur is CEO and founder of Teleradiology Solutions, a global health-care company headquartered in Bangalore that reports radiology scans for over 150 hospitals worldwide. The organization was showcased to former U.S. President Barack Obama on his visit to India in 2010.

He will speak on teleradiology and its relevance to Canada (particularly in remote locations and for First Nations). The talk will also cover the business aspects of scaling this tech start-up in India.

The series is co-presented by the UFV offices of Advancement and Research, Engagement and Graduate Studies.

The South Asian Studies Institute is pleased to be an organizing partner for UFV's first ever Valley Fest.

See below for your chance to drop by during the week of March 11-15th, 2019 for some great opportunities to learn and engage:

Monday, March 11th: (All day): The SASI will display its first exhibit highlighting the stories of some of the first Punjabi settlers in the Valley.

Tuesday, March 12th: (All day): The SASI will display its first exhibit highlighting the stories of some of the first Punjabi settlers in the Valley.

Thursday, March 14th: (6pm): You're invited to learn some bhangra dance moves with an experienced instructor.

Friday, March 15th (6pm): The SASI is proud to partner with the UFV Department of English to bring in up and coming author Harman Kaur, who will be reading from her book Phulkari.

‌‌‌‌'We Are Hockey": An Exhibit at the Sikh Heritage Museum Curated by the South Asian Studies Institute

The South Asian Studies Institute is pleased to present its next exhibit at the Sikh Heritage Museum, National Historic Site, Gur Sikh Temple. The exhibit titled We Are Hockey looks at the experience of peoples of colour who have contributed to the iconic Canadian sport of ice hockey. The exhibit opening reception, on March 29, 2019 at 5pm will feature the popular Hockey Night Punjabi Edition commentators Randip Janda and Harnarayan Singh. 

To view the virtual exhibit, please visit: We Are Hockey.

All are welcome to attend the opening reception.

WHEN: Friday, March 29th, 2019

TIME: 5pm

 

 

Hockey, Racism, Memory-Making: A Forum

The SASI Invites You to Attend Hockey, Racism and Memory-Making. A forum based on the SASI exhibit 'We Are Hockey.' The forum will feature a keynote address by Dr. Courtney Szto, whose PhD research informed the SASI exhibit.

Other speakers include Bhupinder Singh Hundal, a Producer with the CBC and Shan Dhaliwal, a SASI Research Assistant.

WHERE: Sikh Heritage Museum, National Historic Site, Gur Sikh Temple 33089 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC

WHEN: Tuesday, May 28th, 10AM-12PM

Langar (a vegetarian communal meal will follow the forum).

All are invited to attend

 

You are invited to a talk and short film screening by Dr. Tahseen Choudhury

TALK ABSTRACT:

South Asian diasporas from decolonisation to post-diasporic hybridity: The emergence of transcendental time in diasporaisation in contemporary Britain

 
Time with its phenomenal streams of elapse not only signifies its temporality but also underlines the spatiality where it transcends the borderline of clocked-up time in order to bring in a new time—a new generation, a new culture. In contemporary Britain diasporisation has embarked on a platform that encounters a transcendental time of redefining national infrastructure as hybrid, multicultural and significantly untraditional. This time factor works intrinsically for the diasporisation of South Asians in Britain. 
 
Time is not merely meant to be a chronology of events for them; rather their run has always been against the time; they have
encountered endless roughness of time to make their presence felt in the land of colonisers. Eventually, they have made their own time, set the time beyond its conventional flow by
challenging a range of burning realities from the impact of decolonisation, racial discriminations to the formation of post-ethnic identity. South Asian diasporas in Britain have
undergone several stages of cultural metamorphosis and now have crossed the peripheral threshold of Britishness. This is to say that they have transcended the framework of postcolonial
otherness to become British with completeness. These dislocated migrants are now situating themselves in a transcendental time of post-diasporic landscape celebrating the emergence of multicultural Britain. 
 
This paper will attempt to investigate South Asians and their times in Britain in the context of their cultural transformations.
 
WHEN: TUESDAY, July 23rd
TIME: 10AM
PLACE: South Asian Studies Institute, UFV, Room F125

You are invited to attend a presentation by two student interns from the Punjabi University, Patiala located in Punjab, India:

WHEN: Tuesday, July 30th, 2019

TIME: 10AM-11AM

PLACE: Room F125 (SASI Boardroom)

 

The Building Bridges Community Golf day supports UFV’s South Asian Studies Institute (SASI) Research Fellowship Endowment, which funds scholarly research aimed at answering questions and tackling issues that matter in the Fraser Valley and beyond. This research in particular responds to and has relevance for local, provincial, and national communities.

Support the SASI Research Fellowship Endowment by attending the event, becoming a sponsor, or donating a silent auction item or prize. Please contact us at giving@ufv.ca to find out more about this opportunity.

Together, we are changing lives and building community.

We invite you to attend a lecture by Dr. HS Virk on "Guru Nanak- A Universal Prophet Without Borders"

WHEN: Tuesday, September 10th

TIME: 3PM

PLACE: Sikh Heritage Museum, National Historic Site Gur Sikh Temple, Abbotsford, BC 

You are invited to a talk by our newly appointed SASI Faculty Associate, Dr. Adrienne Fast, Curator of Art and Visual Culture at the Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford. Dr. Fast’s talk, titled “Hungry Bengal,” looks at the 1943 Bengal Famine which was once referred to by the BBC as one of the “things we forgot to remember.” Today, these events are little known or understood outside of India itself.

Please join us for a historical (and art historical) journey through one of the most important, and overlooked events that helped determine the outcome of World War II.

WHEN: Tuesday, November 5th

TIME: 5pm-7pm

WHERE: SASI, Room F125, Uhouse/UFV Abbotsford Campus

Light refreshments will be served, all are welcome and please feel free to share the invitation with others. To rsvp, please email sasi@ufv.ca.

SASI's 3rd Annual Symposium: South Asia and Gender

Featuring Keynote Address, Dr. Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh

Dr. Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh is the head of the Department of Religious Studies at Colby College, and holds the Crawford Family Professor Chair. Her interests focus on Asian Religions, feminist issues, and sacred art and poetry. Dr. Singh has published extensively in the field of Sikh studies. Her books include Of Sacred and Secular Desire: An Anthology of Lyrical Writings from the Punjab (IB Tauris 2012), Sikhism: An Introduction (IB Tauris 2011), Cosmic Symphony (Sahitya Akademy, 2008), Birth of the Khalsa (SUNY 2005), Feminine Principle in the Sikh Vision of the Transcendent (Cambridge University Press, 1993), Sikhism (Facts on File, translated into Japanese, 1993), and The Name of My Beloved (HarperCollins1995; Penguin 2001). She has authored over 100 articles and chapters, and given more than 250 lectures nationally and internationally.

WHEN: Friday, November 29th, 2019

WHERE: UFV, Abbotsford, South Asian Studies Institute, room F125

TIME: 9AM-4PM

All are invited, please rsvp: sasi@ufv.ca

 

 

Commemorating Guru Nanak's 550th Birth Year

Please join us for a community discussion on the life and impact of the philosophy of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji on humanity as we commemorate his 550th Birth year.

Join Dr. Harjeet Singh Grewal and Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains for an open dialogue that seeks to spark our contemporary thoughts on the unique spiritual, social and political platforms of Guru Nanak’s philosophy.

From the all-encompassing Ikk Oankar to the inclusive Sarbat da Bhala we want to explore how our faith tradition affect our daily lives.

Discussion is open to all in a respectful, safe and exploratory manner.

Dr.  Harjeet Grewal teaches Sikhism and Religious Philosophy courses in the Department of Classics and Religion at the University of Calgary. He completed his dissertation, titled “Janamsākhī: Retracing Networks of Interpretation,” at the University of Michigan in 2017. His research interests include Sikh philosophy, diaspora, and religious literature.

Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains is the Director of the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley. She has a research interest in Sikh historiographies and is particularly interested on the Sikh Rahit Maryada’s definition of a Sikh, rules of service and conduct of Sikhs.

WHEN: Thursday, November 28th, 2019

WHERE: Sikh Heritage Museum, National Historic Site Gur Sikh Templ 33089 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC

TIME: 6PM - 8PM

All are invited, please rsvp: sasi@ufv.ca 

 

 

C‌all for Artists(Young Contemporaries) for Desis in the Diaspora 2018 Exhibition‌

Call for artists poster

‌Call for young Canadian contemporaries artists to submit photographic work which reflects upon Canadians of South Asian heritage - now and in the past.

Work should reflect the artist's ideas or perspectives on the diversity of:
Experiences | Aesthetics | Cultural Embodiments | Religious Symbols

Submission Deadline: September 30, 2017

For more details email us at: sasi@ufv.ca

‌SASI welcomes Dr. Gurvel Singh Malhi

Event Invitation poster

Dr.Malhi is presenting his views on "The issues raised, political agenda, nature of leadership, sub-regional patterns in electoral behaviour, speehces and statements in the recent Punjab elections."

When: 21st of Wednesday, 2017: 12 noon-1pm
Where: F125, Uhouse, South Asian Studies Institute

Sikh Heritage Museum Exhibit Launch Commemorating Canada 150:

(Dis) Enfranchisement 1907-1947: The Forty-Year Struggle for the Vote

with black fontTIME: 1:30PM
WHERE: Sikh Heritage Museum, National Historic Site Gur Sikh Temple: 33089 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC.

ALL ARE WELCOME and the exhibit is available for viewing year long.

Read more about Canada 150.

UFV’s Centre for Indo Canadian Studies ‌‌announces the publication of Reluctant Rebellions: New and Selected Non-fiction by Shauna Singh Baldwin

Reading and Book Launch Reception at the Centre for Indo Canadian Studies 

When: Thurs, Sept 29, 2016 at 6pm.

Baldwin's first novel What the Body Remembers, the story of two women in a polygamous marriage in occupied India, received the Commonwealth Prize for Best Book (Canada-Caribbean). Her second, The Tiger Claw, the story of a Sufi Muslim secret agent searching for her beloved through occupied France, was a finalist for Canada's Giller Prize, and was optioned for film. Her third novel The Selector of Souls received the 2012 Council for Wisconsin Writers Fiction prize. English Lessons and Other Stories received the Friends of American Writers prize. We Are Not in Pakistan, her collection of cross-cultural stories was published in 2007. She is co-author of A Foreign Visitor's Survival Guide to America. She has an MBA from Marquette University, and an MFA from the University of British Columbia.

Order book from Amazon

For orders , media inquiries & readings

contact Sharanjit.Sandhra@ufv.ca 

(604)851-6325

WHEN: Sunday, March 6th 2016 (exhibit available for viewing until January 2017)

WHERE: Sikh Heritage Museum, National Historic Site Gur Sikh Temple. 33089 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC V2S 2B1

TIME: 1PM

(Exhibit launch will feature poetry reading from the Punjabi Lekhek Manch)

With Presentation by Author, Amardeep Singh

WHEN: Tuesday, May 31, 2016

WHERE: CICS, Room F125 (UFV Abbotsford Campus)

TIME: 6PM

(RSVP Required, please call 604-851-6325 or email Sharanjit.Sandhra@ufv.ca.)

(Mis)Interpretation: Sikh Feminisms in Representations, Texts and Lived Realities

WHEN: Tuesday, September 29th, 2015

WHERE: UFV S'eliyemetaxwtexw Art Gallery, Abbotsford Campus Room B136

TIME: Opening Reception 5PM. Exhibition available for viewing until October 20th

Featuring Keynote Address from Dr. Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh of Colby College (Maine, USA)

 

 

BETRAYED: Portraits of StrengthAn exhibition and stories of human trafficking based on the photography of Tony Hoare

WHEN: Monday, September 21st, 2015

WHERE: UFV Abbotsford Campus, Library Rotunda, G Building

TIME: Opening Reception at 4PM. Exhibition available for viewing until September 30th.

Please join UFV's Centre for Indo-Canadain Studies for an evening to honor, Preserve, and share the stories of South Asian Pioneers. For more information, please visit the events calendar

When: Saturday, September 26th, 2015

Where: UFV Abbotsford campus, Room B101

Time: 3-6pm

Sunday, March 8th, 2015: CICS Partners to Celebrate International Women's Day

WHEN: Sunday, March 8, 2015

WHERE: The Reach Gallery Museum, Abbotsford

TIME: 11-3PM

CICS Presents Ehsaas Readers and Writers Festival featuring Shauna Singh Baldwin

WHEN: TUESDAY, March 3rd, 2015

WHERE: CICS, Room F125, UFV Abbotsford Campus

TIME: 6PM

CICS Presents Duty, Honour, Izzat: The Call to Flanders Field Exhibition Launch

WHEN: Tuesday, January 27th, 2015

WHERE: CICS, Room F125, UFV Abbotsford Campus

TIME: 4:30PM-6:00PM

The launch of this two month long running exhibition at the CICS will feature a talk from curator, designer and collector Mr. Steven Purewal. There will also be a chance to view original Great War artifacts.

CohabCICS Presents Marie Curie Lectures

Monday, January 12th, 2015

The theme: Constructions of Home and Belonging (CoHaB) features Phd scholars from both the University of Mumbai and Westfaelische Wilhelms Universitaet, in Muenster, Germany.

All UFV faculty, staff and students are invited to attend. All community members are also invited. Refreshments will be served.

Monday, January 12th, 2015
4-6PM
Centre for Indo Canadian Studies (UFV Abby Campus, Room F125)

CICS Launches Exhibition Canadian Sikhs in WWI: The Forgotten Story

Sunday, January 18th, 2015

The Centre for Indo Canadian Studies will be launching the exhibition: Canadian Sikhs in WWI: The Forgotten Story on Sunday, January 18th at 2PM at the Sikh Heritage Museum which is located in the National Historic Site, Gur Sikh Temple in Abbotsford.

The exhibition will be available all year long for viewing from January 18, 2015-December, 2015.

The launch will feature a documentary screening and discussion with the director as well as a keynote speaker and dignitaries.

All are invited to attend this important exhibition.

Refreshments will be provided. For more information and updates on the agenda, etc., please visit:www.ufv.ca/cics or contact Sharn at 604-851-6325.

DATE: Sunday, January 18th
TIME: 1PM-3PM
PLACE: Sikh Heritage Museum, National Historic Site Gur Sikh Temple, 33094 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC

IWD 2014CICS collaborates to bring International Women's Day and One Billion Rising celebrations

Saturday, March 8th, 2014

Time: 11am-3pm

Place: Thunderbird Plaza adjacent to the Reach Gallery Museum, Abbotsford

Community booths and the One Billion Rising Dance will take place at Thunderbird Plaza, followed by film screening and keynote address from Rumana Monzur inside the Reach. All are welcome.

Ehsaas Film 2014Ehsaas Film Screening brought to you by SAPNA (South Asian Peer Network Association) and UFV India

March 7th, 2014

Time: 5PM-8PM

PLACE: Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies, Room F125

All are welcome and refreshments will follow. There will be a special discussion moderated by director Ajay Bhardwaj.

Amandeep April 9thDr. Amandeep Sandhu, the BC Regional Innovation Chair in Canada-India Business and Economic Development will be providing a lecture as part of the Research Lecture Series

DATE: Wednesday, April 9th
TIME: 5PM
PLACE: UFV Abbotsford Campus, Room B101 Theatre Room

All are invited to attend and refreshments will follow to allow for networking and meeting Dr. Sandhu

SHM KGMJanuary 26, 2014: Komagata Maru Centennial Launch and Sikh Heritage Museum Exhibition Opening

TIME: 1PM-3PM

PLACE: Sikh Heritage Museum, 33089 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC

EXHIBITION AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING ALL YEAR ROUND UNTIL DECEMBER 2014

Sikh Heritage Museum hours: 10AM-4PM

KGM Victoria ConferenceThe Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies in Partnership with UVIC, UBC and Trent University Present: Charting Imperial Itineraries 1914-2014: Unmooring the Komagata Maru.


Workshop: May 15th-May 16th at the University of Victoria

1984 Symposium

ACADEMIC RESPONSE

The Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies will be hosting a symposium entitled:

Justice Denied/Collusion Denied
30 years later: Reflecting on 1984 anti-Sikh pogroms

This symposium will feature the keynote address from Dr. Parvinder Kaur Mehta of Wayne State University and will feature a panel of UFV scholars and a graduate student panel. All UFV community members and encouraged to attend and participate in this crucial dialogue.

 

WHEN: Saturday, November 1st

TIME: 9AM-3PM

WHERE: Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies in Room F125 (Uhouse)

KGM Play reducedThe Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies has commissioned a brand-new, full length play on the Komagata Maru story titled: That Land Beyond the Waves. This play has been written by Dr. Rajnish Dhawan and Directed by Dr. John Carroll from the Department of English.


WHEN:

Saturday, November 1st at 7PM (Doors open at 6:30PM)

Sunday, November 2nd at 2PM (Doors open at 1:30PM)


WHERE:

Matsqui Centennial Auditorium, Abbotsford

Virinder Kalra
PUBLIC LECTURE 
Dr. VirinderSingh Kalra
 
 
University of Manchester
 
"Punjabi Spiritual Music and the Sacred/Secular Divide"
 
Established musical genres such as kirtanand qawwaliare normatively associated with the Sikh and Muslim religious groups in Punjab. In pre-partition India, these musical forms were not so distinct, neither musicologicallyor crucially in terms of musicians. In contemporary East Punjab, the music played at popular shrines is performed by artists who are able to play with boundary markers and engage in what is being described here as Punjabi spiritual music. Drawing on musical and lyrical examples the continued salience of a musical tradition that defies the sacred/secular divide will be demonstrated.
 
Dr. VirinderS Kalra teaches in the department of Sociology at the University of Manchester, UK. His research interests are in Punjabi popular culture and religion across the borders of India, Pakistan and the diaspora. He is the (co)author of the book, Hybridity and Diaspora and an editor of the collection: A Postcolonial People: South Asians in Britain.
 
Friday November 21, 2014
Centre for Indo Canadian Studies
F125 University House
10:30 -12 noon
 
REFRESHMENTS WILL BE PROVIDED
 

Image for book launch invite 2013‌The Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies Presents its Published Book, A Soldier Remembers

 

COPIES NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE. $10.00 per copy. Please contact Sharanjit at 604-851-6325 to purchase.


Book Launch:
DATE: Saturday, November 30th
TIME: 11AM-1PM
PLACE: Surrey Newton Library Branch: 13795-70th Avenue, Surrey, BC

Ehsaas 2013Ehsaas South Asian Readers and Writers Festival

WHEN: Thursday, November 21st

TIME: 5PM

PLACE: Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies, UFV, Room F125

Helium for WebThe Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies Presents Jaspreet Singh, Author of Helium
Thursday, October 10th, 2013
1PM
CICS, UHouse, F125

Every Girl Matters 2013GirlKind Foundation and the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies Present Every Girl Matters Day 
Friday, October 11th, 2013
10-1PM
CICS, UHouse Room F125

GHADAR CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE 2013
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17th, 2013 
Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies, F125
8AM-6PM

Ghadar Museum FinalWHEN: Sunday, September 8th, 2013 (exhibition will run until January 23, 2014)

TIME: 1:00PM

PLACE: Sikh Heritage Museum, 33089 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC 

Hola Mohallah Poster

You are invited to attend the fourth exhibition opening of the Sikh Heritage Museum

WHEN: Sunday, June 30, 2013
WHERE: Sikh Heritage Museum, National Historic Site Gur Sikh Temple, Abbotsford, BC
TIME: 1 PM

Dalit PosterWHEN: April 12, 2013

TIME:8:30AM-4:30PM

WHERE: UFV Abbotsford Campus room B132

 "It's a Man's Problem" A Conversation on Male Perpetrators of Partner Violence

Gary Thandi (MSW), will be presenting his research which presents the perspective of 17 front-line practitioners who, together, have more than 20 years of direct experience working with South Asian male perpetrators of intimate partner violence or their families. All the research participants - psychologists, program managers and counsellors, police and probation officers - are members of South Asian communities in the Lower Mainland.

Please note: RSVP is required. Please contact Sharn at sharanjit.sandhra@ufv.ca for more information.

When: Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013
Time: 3-5PM
Where: Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies, (F125, UHouse)

IWD Poster

The Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies in partnership with the faculty and staff association and many other UFV partners is pleased to present the 'UFV International Women's Day.' The afternoon will begin with a screening of MisRepresentation followed by a keynote address by Bif Naked.

WHEN: Friday, March 8th, 2013

WHERE: B101 and keynote in B105

TIME: 3-5PM 

All are welcome to attend the next exhibition opening at the Sikh Heritage Museum located on the ground floor of the National Historic Site, Gur Sikh Temple in Abbotsford, BC.

This third exhibition is called "Canadian Sikhs: The Turban Challenge" and has been made possible through the funds from the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch Assistant Deputy Minister's Office.

WHERE: Sikh Heritage Museum, 33084 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC

WHEN: SUNDAY, JANUARY 20th, 2013 at 2PM

Interfaith DialogueThe Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies in partnership with the City of Abbotsford's 'Abbotsford Building Connections' Project is pleased to present the Interfaith Dialogue: Sacred Texts and Religious Expressions. All are invited to attend. Please rsvp with Sharanjit at sharanjit.sandhra@ufv.ca

WHEN: MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2013

TIME: 6-8PM

PLACE: Centre for Indo Canadian Studies, UHouse, University of the Fraser Valley

 

International Women's Day Celebrations

Indian Classical night, CICS invites 2 renowned artists from India for an evening of Indian Classical music

When - November 23, 2011

Seventh Annual South Asian Film Festival showcasing Sikh documentaries

‌When-November 15

When- November 5

Opening of the exhibit at the Reach on Punjabi Arts and Culture

When- October 27

Centennial Conference, 2011

Transnational Punjabis in the 21st Century: Beginnings, Junctures and Departures

The University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC

May 5 – 7, 2011

In honor of the 100 year celebrations of the

Sikh Temple National Historic Site in Abbotsford BC, Canada

 A century ago in 1908, determined pioneers from Punjab, India came together against many odds to build one of the first Sikh gurdwaras in North America - the Khalsa Diwan Society Gur Sikh Temple - in the small rural community of Abbotsford, BC. The Gurdwara opened in 1911 amidst much fanfare and ceremony. This historically significant gurdwara was designated as a National Historic Site by the Canadian Government in 2002 and is the only gurdwara in the Americas to be bestowed with this honour.

In honour of the Gurdwara’s Centennial the Centre for Indo Canadian Studies at  the University of the Fraser Valley is hosting an international conference. The theme of the conference builds on the concept of the juncture as a point in time made critical by an occurrence of important and converging circumstances. The conference poses the idea that the moments and events that have shaped, and continue to shape, the transnational Punjabi imagination as well as its reality in the 21st century comprise a juncture that deserves discussion, analysis, and critique. We seek to better understand the beginnings and points of departures for this transnational cultural community amid its past and present trajectory of immigrant, settler, citizen, activist and leader. 

The goal of the conference is to develop a greater understanding of  transnational Punjabis in the 21st century as a broad community with an ever-evolving identity, form and ethos of communities. The conference seeks to engage local, national and international scholars on Diaspora, migration, transnationalism, intergenerational and gendered processes, religion, history, language and Literature, art, culture, identity and cultural politics in relation to Punjab and its communities.

For more information or to contact us, please email: satwinder.bains@ufv.ca

Or call: 604 -854-4547; toll free: 1-888-504-7441

FIRST ANNUAL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS CONFERENCE

UNIVERSITY OF THE FRASER VALLEY, Abbotsford, BC
MAY 7 2011

The aim of the undergraduate students’ conference is to give students an opportunity to explore how South Asian youth may struggle with issues of identity, ethnicity and nationality and how they negotiate these issues and face an often conflicting and confrontational social response. These identities are always contingent upon the presence of both external and internal factors which initiate the cultural association, and often contradiction, in individuals dependent upon how they wish to be perceived.

The complex and poorly explored relationships between personal identity formation and gender politics, culture clashes, race and national identity deserves greater attention and invites the development of racial and national self-understanding for South Asian youth.

The conference organizers invite abstracts from undergraduate students. We welcome individual paper abstracts from all disciplines, covering a range of topics, including proposals that address questions in relation to the themes listed below:

1. Construction of personal identities in response to society’s construction of South Asian youth identity and the ensuing contradictions

2. Whom do we speak for/of?  Dominant images of South Asian youth and the extent to which they recognizes themselves in them

3. As second generation or immigrant South Asian youth, how do youth come to terms with the many contradictions they face on a daily basis, and what are those contradictions?

4. Where are the intersections of personal and national identity, as well as ethnicity and how are bridges built to cross over the divides?

 No registration fee is required – all are welcome: student subsidies for travel to be announced shortly.

The Undergraduate Conference is part of the larger Centennial Conference 2011 - Transnational Punjabis in the 21st Century, taking place at the University of the Fraser Valley from May 5 – 7, 2011.

Talk by Dr. Surinder Dhanjal: Computer Analysis & Synthesis of the Punjabi Language

Dr. Dhanjal will look at the Punjabi language through computer analysis and synthesis. Punjabi has been ranked among the top 15 spoken languages in the world. Two languages, English and Punjabi, with totally different phonetics have been investigated by the author. This talk will concentrate on the problems encountered during the linear prediction analysis/synthesis of these two languages.


Where: Centre for Indo Canadian Studies, F125
When: Tuesday, November 9, 7PM
 

Talk by Gilli McLaren: Gandhi and C.F. Andrews-a Friend of India

Gilli McLaren will discuss the relationship of C.F Andrews to the independence movement in India. Charles Andrews and Mahatma Gandhi became friends when they first met in South Africa, where Gandhi was beginning to make a name by fighting racism and apartheid. Armed with nothing but moral courage. Gandhi called Andrews "Dinabandhu" friend of the poor, with good reason. Andrews championed freedom for India from imperialist oppression, before Mahatma Gandhi took over the cause.

Where: Centre for Indo Canadian Studies, F125
When: Wednesday, November 17, 7PM

 

 

The sixth annual Ehsaas Film Festival
will be taking place on Wednesday October 13, 20, 
27 and November 10. This year’s theme will be related to the 
September 11 terrorist attacks on New York City. 
The films being shown are New YorkShoot on 
SightOf Land Labour and Love, and A Dream for Kabul. Each film presents 
a unique and emotional take on the terror 
attacks, and its impact, transcending cultural 
and religious barriers. The film festival admission 
is free and all are welcome to attend. 

Shoot on Sight  Wednesday, October 13
Discussion Led by Sharanjit Sandhra
(Directed by Jag Mundhra) Shoot On Sight is a fictional story based on London Police order to shoot suspected terrorists after the July 7th 2005 London bombings, that resulted in racial profiling. The Film is a thrilling and riveting drama that unfolds the turmoil in the life of Tariq Ali, a Muslim police officer at Scotland Yard. Distrusted by both his superiors in the police, and his fellow Muslims, he finds his inquiry hampered from all sides. Eventually, Tariq must face the realization that sometimes, the right decision is the hardest one to make.

Of Land, Labour and Love Wednesday, October 20
Discussion led by Director Ajay Bhardwaj
(Directed by Ajay Bhardwaj) Of Land, Labour and Love captures the irony of the lives of the tribal peasants of Dasmanthpur block in Koraput district.of the eastern state of Orissa in India.  A hilly, upland terrain rich in diversity of crops, however, its people suffer chronic malnutrition and ill-health. In their midst, Ama Sangathan, a federation of tribal women’s organizations, strives to find new ways by which they can equip themselves to restore their lands and the fragile eco system. A system eroded by the felling of trees, a callous government and years of exploitation of its people.
 
New York, Wednesday, October 27
Discussion Led by Satwinder Bains
(Directed by Kabir Khan) New York is a contemporary story of friendship set against the larger than life backdrop of a city often described as the centre of the world. For most of us, larger events in the world are just headlines in the newspapers but these events can change our lives... forever. New York is one such story of three young friends whose beautiful lives are turned upside down by larger events beyond their control. It is based on the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The three friends are tortured and forced to be under investigation by the police for allegedly causing the attacks as they are Indians and are called upon to be terrorists.

A Dream for Kabul, Wednesday, November 10
Discussion Led by Satwinder Bains
(Directed by Philippe Baylaucq) This feature documentary traces the journey of Haruhiro Shiratori as he tries to overcome personal grief by building a cultural centre for the children of Kabul. After losing his only child on 9/11, Shiratori spends 4 years traveling across 3 continents to speak about the disasters the Afghan children have endured and to raise funds for his centre. The film tells the dual story of a humanitarian project ambushed by problems and a father seeking to reconcile with his dead son.

Dates: October 13, 20, 27,  and November 10, 2010

Time: 6:30pm-9pm
Location:
B101, UFV Theatre, Abbotsford campus

Fri, Nov 5

4-7 pm

Abbotsford Campus, University House F125

Join the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies for an evening of celebration including:

Bhangra/dance performances
Free, delicious food and sweets, Sparklers, Diya lighting, Free Henna, Games, Prizes

Come dressed in Indian attire - or we can dress you!
For more information please contact Raji Heer, Chair of SAPNA, at sapna@ufv.ca, or call 778-997-5115

 

 

The Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies, the BC Regional Innovation Chair (BCRIC), and the Global Development Institute (GDI), of the University of the Fraser Valley present a joint sponsorship of a cross-Canada tour of a photography exhibit that highlights a key aspect of effective development initiatives: empowerment of indigenous people. On the CASE, Child Advocates for Social Empowerment, an exhibit by photographer Marilyn Smith, captures the creative ways in which Developing Indigenous Resources (DIR) is transforming daily life in a slum on the outskirts of Chandigarh, simply by enabling slum residents to take on the role of local health experts. The opening reception for the exhibit is on October 26 at the Centre, and it will be available for viewing there from October 26-29. For details, please contact Garry Fehr at garry.fehr@ufv.ca or visit www.ufv.ca/cics . 

 
Date: October 26-29, 2010
Time: Opening Reception 6pm
Location: Centre for Indo Canadian Studies
 
 

UFV Department of English faculty member, Rajnish Dhawan has written a full-length play entitled That Time of Year.  It concerns itself with issues of marriage, gender, and sexuality as perceived through the lens of people in North America and India.  The discrepancies in the two points of view, the assumptions about these issues, and the stereotypes on both sides are brought out in the play.
 
There will be a staged reading on the evening of October 22 at The Reach Gallery.  A staged reading means that the actors will have scripts in hand and that there will be minimal set and minimal movement on stage.  In this way, we are able to concentrate on the script and the issues it presents for debate.
Following the reading, there will be a panel discussion involving various members of the Abbotsford community as well as the faculty of UFV.
 
Date: October 22, 2010
Time: TBA
Location: The Reach Gallery and Museum
 
Dr. Neels Talk on South Africa
 
Dr. Jan Neels will be presenting a paper on the progressive recognition of Hindu and Muslim personal law in South Africa

Date: October 7, 2010
Time: 7pm
Location: Centre for Indo Canadian Studies F125

 

A CALL TO PRESERVE THE HERITAGE OF PUNJAB BY PRESERVING SHAJJRA NASB (KURSEE-NAMA) RECORDS

Please attend a workshop with Dr. Gurcharan Singh Gill of village Dhudike, District Moga, Punjab, India. If you are interested in researching your family history in India, this workshop is for you. Some computer literacy is required.

Location: 
University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, in the computer lab, located in the library building "G," the Peter Jones Learning Commons

Date: July 17, 2010

Time: 1pm-3pm

Topic: Lineage Based Community (Villages) Family Trees of District Moga and Punjab

Basic Outline: Ancient History of Jat Clans of Punjab; Solar (Suraj-Vanshi) and Lunar (Chandar-Vanshi) lineages of Jat Clans; Sample Village Records of Dhudike; Gill, Brar, Sidhu, Bhatti and Yadu Clans; Description of Shajjra Nasb (Kursee Nama) Records; Moga District Records; Need for Indexing these records by translating them into English and make the data search-able by computer. Records before 1950 are in Urdu and the later one’s are in Punjabi.

Objective:  
• Get the larger Punjabi Community involved in getting permission from Deputy Commissioners and the Punjab Government to let us preserve these records electronically by digitizing them and indexing them at no cost to the Districts or the Punjab Government. 
• Provide an opportunity for the Punjabi Community to volunteer to index a village of their birth and perhaps some other villages. 
• Make the indexed records available to the public on a suitable Website respecting the privacy laws.

Vita: Born in Moga; Left for USA in 1954; B. Sc. in Mathematics and Physics in 1958 from Brigham Young University, Provo Utah; M. Sc. in 1960 and Ph. D. in Mathematics in 1965, University of Utah, Salt Lake City Utah; Professor of Mathematics at Brigham Young University in 1960-63 and 1965-99; Since Retirement in 1999, engaged in Genealogical research including Land Records in District Moga, Punjab, India.

For More Information, please contact:
Sharanjit Sandhra
604-851-6325
sharanjit.sandhra@ufv.ca

Diasporizing Punjab, Disoreinting Bhangra

The Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies - along with partners the Department of Asian Studies and the Centre for India and South Asia Research at the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver International Celebration of Bhangra - will be hosting a number of national and international scholars of the Punjabi diaspora in May 2010. Click here for full information.

Reading at UFV by Author M.G. Vassanji, November 20, 2009

Award winning author M.G. Vassanji visited the centre to read from The Assassin's Song, which was published in 2007 and has since been short-listed for the Giller Prize, the Governor General's Award, and the Roger Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. Vassanji received the 2009 Governor General's award for non-fiction for his memoir: A Place Within: Rediscovering India.

Ceremony Held at CICS in Memory of 1984, November 3, 2009

The Centre for Indo Canadian Studies held a ceremony in remembrance of the Delhi riots that ocurred in 1984, which was a year of great tragedy for Sikhs around the world beginning with the early June 1984 attack on the holiest Sikh shrine, the Golden Temple of Amritsar.

Installation of Sikh Holy Texts: Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, October 21, 2009

UFV faculty, friends, and students participated in the installation ceremony of the translated, four-volume set of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji in the UFV library. These volumes were translated by Sardar Priam Singh Chahil over a majority of his life and donated kindly to UFV by Mr. Ivor Thompson of Toronto. The texts are a valuable resource to students, faculty, and community members alike.

CICS Celebrates Diwali, a Festival of Lights, October 16, 2009

UFV's South Asian Peer Network (SAPNA) hosted Diwali at the Centre for Indo Candian Studies. It was a fun filled day that included events such as diya painting (clay candle holders), and mehndi (henna tattoos) as well as delicious Indian food. 

Visit by Consul General, September 4, 2009

The Consul general of India-Ashok Das-and his wife, Dr. Erika Das, visited the Centre to meet members of the Indo-Candian Community Council. The Council hosted a reception dinner at the CICS with new UFV President and vice-chancellor Dr. Mark Evered welcoming the Consul General to UFV. Mr. Das reciprocated by commending the UFV for undertaking its initiatives witht the Indian subcontinent and offered his support to the Centre.

Reminiscences of the Mysore Palace : An evening with Princess Urmilla Devi, Monday, September, 28, 2009

Please attend this fascinating visual journey through the splendor of the lives of Maharajas and Maharanis of India. A personal walk through the annals of the Wadiyar Dynasty of Mysore, India, intertwined with teh historical narrative are personal reminiscences, anecdotes, and a private collection of visuals of the family.
Admission is free. Refreshments will be served. Building F (University House), room 125.

Speakers from Orissa Share Views, June 22, 2009

The CICS hosted an event organized by the South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD). The focus of the forum was on the large-scale acquisition of hundreds of thousands of hectares of agricultural land, either for building mega-projects or for setting up Special Economic Zones to serve the local and/or multinational big capital.

Celebrate International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, March 29, 2009

Join us in recognizing the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

6 to 8 pm
Abby, Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies

Presenters are:
Michelle Sylliboy, a Mi’kmaq visual artist and poet, who will read from her work Stepping on Intellectual Sacred Grounds.

Rita Dhamoon, from UFV’s Philosophy and Politics department, who will speak about two dominant streams in anti-racism work.

Paul Orlowski, UFV’s Teacher Education program, who will talk about opposing racial discourses.

Light refreshments will be served.
This event is sponsored by the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies.

Ehsaas: South Asian Film Festival, March, 9, 16 and 23, 2009

Films will be screened starting at 7 pm at University House (F110 - UFV’s Abbotsford campus 33844 King Rd). Admission is free and is open to the public, donations welcome.

South Asian writers to gather at UFV
February 24, 2009

Due to the immense success of a similar event last year, the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies (CICS) and the UFV English department will once again host an evening with South Asian writers of the Fraser Valley.  The celebration will start at 6 pm, and will showcase five writers: Ashok Mathur, Tariq Malik, Anjali Banerjee, Phinder Dulai, and UFV's new writer-in-residence, Jaspreet Singh, who will also host the event. 

Each author wiil read for 10-20 minutes, and questions and discussion will follow. Some of these writers' books will be on display and sale, and refreshments will be provided.

The public is welcome at this event. It will be held on Tues, Feb 24, from 6 to 8:30 pm at UFV’s Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies in University House (F125) on the Abbotsford campus.

Access is off McKenzie Road. Pay parking is in effect at UFV.

Tues. Feb 24
6-8:30pm
Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies [F125]

UFV hosts Interfaith Dialogue, January 26, 2009

We all have a role to play in creating a peaceful and harmonious world, no matter what our faith or belief system happens to be. Learn more about how people of different faiths view the world and our place in it at an interfaith dialogue, hosted by the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies at the University of the Fraser Valley on Monday, January 26.

This free public event and discussion will include brief presentations by Harold Rosen (Baha'i faith), David Giesbrecht (Christian faith), Gurmit Singh Tiwana (Sikh faith), Kosum Soni and Oscar Khalideen (Hindu faith), David Mivasair (Jewish faith), and Raheel Raza (Islamic faith).

Plan to attend on January 26 from 7-9 p.m. at the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies, Building F, Room 125 at UFV’s Abbotsford campus. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Satwinder Bains at 604-854-4547.

UFV marks anniversary of ‘Continuous Journey’ — Canada’s blockage of  South Asian immigrants, November 21, 2008

UFV is hosting its own event at 10 a.m. Friday, November 21st, at the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies, at University House (Building F) on the Abbotsford campus. Bains will moderate the debate while UFV instructors and staff will discuss the Continuous Journey legislation and Canada’s current immigration laws and policies. Speakers include political science instructor Dr. Rita Dhamoon, speakers from the Geography department Dr. John Belec and Cherie Enns, and UFV’s director of Institutional Research Dr. Zareen Naqvi.

The event is open to the public.

For information about the India-Canada Studies certificate program, or Friday’s debate to commemorate a Century of South Asian presence in Canada, please contact Satwinder Bains at 604-854-4547 or email satwinder.bains@ufv.ca.

Dr. Panja on "Shakespeare in Bollywood Today" and "Shakespeare on the Indian Stage"
November 17 & 18, 2008

Shormishtha Panja, Professor of English, University of Delhi, will deliver two public lectures with the sponsorship of the UFV English and Theatre departments, the Faculty of Arts, UFV International, and the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies.

Monday, Nov 17, 6:30 p.m. in Abbotsford, room B101
"Shakespeare in Bollywood Today"
This talk will have film clips from Bhardwaj's movies.

Tuesday, Nov 18, 2 p.m. in Chilliwack, Theatre
"Shakespeare on the Indian Stage"

India Study Tour Photo Exhibit
UFV's first study tour visited Majestic India in February 2008. Images from this memorable trip are on will be on display outside of the library in early September.

Diwali Festival of Lights, October 23, 2008

The Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies at UFV is co-sponsoring the event with Mission Community Services Society.  The event is being held on Thursday, October 23rd at Heritage Park Centre, 33700 Prentis Avenue in Mission.  For more information please contact Satwinder Bains at 604-854-4547.

Udaari Pioneer Exhibition - BC 150 Event, October 24, 2008

An exhibit displaying Sikh history in British Columbia over the past 150 years will be on display at the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies on Friday, October 24th, 2008 from 10 am to 5 pm. 8 pioneers who lead the way for others will be recognized for the hardships they faced. To RSVP please contact Satwinder Bains at 604-854-4547
http://www.bc150.ca/bc150.aspx?page=feature_indo-canadian_exhibition
View the exhibit panels (PDF) Section 1  Section 2  Section 3
View slideshow of opening of exhibition

Comedy Night, October 27, 2008

South Asian Peer Networking Association (SAPNA) with support from Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies (CICS) present Comedy Night with Sunee Dhaliwal and Ivan Decker at Casey's, Monday 27th October. Doors open at 7pm and show begins at 8pm. All proceeds will be going to the Abbotsford Food Bank. SAPNA is a group of students interested in promoting South Asian Culture at UFV. For more information about Comedy Night or getting involved with SAPNA, please contact Raji @ 778 997 5115 or Bal @778 549 2824, email: sapna.ufv@gmail.com.

Kiran Ahluwalia in concert, July 25, 2008

Ghazal and Punjabi folk song singer Kiran Ahluwalia dazzled a mesmerized audience in concert on July 25th at the Abbotsford campus.

Celebrated author Anita Rau Badami visits UFV, March 31, 2008

Anita Rau Badami will be at two events at UFV on Mon, March 31, including a reading, book signing and reception.
Click here for details.

Consultation Report Abbotsford Youth Forum

A group of community youth called Speak Out, in collaboration with the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies, hosted a youth forum at UFV on March 10, 2007.  They wanted to provide the students of Abbotsford high schools with a venue for dialogue and discussion. This forum was facilitated by various leaders from the local community. The aim of these discussions was to extract ideas from students and create recommendations which could be passed onto community organizations and government agencies. Eighteen students, 10 facilitators, 16 interveners spent a day together to discuss issues and concerns facing Indo-Canadian youth in the Canadian mosaic with a concerted goal to make recommendations that can be acted upon.
Please click here to read the full Consultation Report.

Children and the City Conference

When- February 2008
Where- Chandigarh, India

Study Tour to India, February 2008

UFV helps Panjab University celebrate diamond jubilee
Panjab University, located in Chandigarh, Punjab State, India, recently marked its 60th anniversary and UFV’s vice-president external Robert Buchan journeyed there to participate in a number of events to celebrate the university’s diamond jubilee.
Read news release
View photo gallery

CICS hosting career fairs

The Centre of Indo-Canadian Studies at UFV is planning two career fairs in January 2008 focusing on Indo-Canadian students and their parents. A number of UFV departments, along with UFV faculty and staff, UFV alumni and UFV Career Services will be on hand to answer your questions.  This is a free event and everybody is invited.

Sunday, January 13th, 2008 6pm-9pm
Khalsa Diwan Society
33094 South Fraser Way
Abbotsford

Monday, January 14th, 2008 6pm-9pm
Gurdwara Sahib Kalgidhar Darbar
30640 Blueridge Drive
Abbotsford

For more information please contact satwinder.bains@ufv.ca or call 604-854-4547.

UFV to host Afghan member of parliament and women’s rights activist Malalai Joya, November 2, 2007

Malalai Joya, a member of parliament in Afghanistan and outspoken critic of those who abuse power and human rights in her country, will visit UFV next week as part of her BC speaking tour.

She will speak at UFV in the lecture theatre, room B101 on the Abbotsford campus, Friday, Nov 2, from 2:30 to 4 pm.

“This will be a truly thought-provoking and humanist talk focused on raising awareness about the role of women in Afghanistan,” says Satwinder Bains, director of the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies.

This a free event with donations gladly accepted for Joya’s group: Organization of Promoting Afghan Women’s Capabilities. People planning to attend are asked to rsvp to: satwinder.bains@ufv.ca or 604-854-4547

Joya’s topic will be The Women's Rights Catastrophe in Afghanistan: Prospects for Change

Fri, Nov 2
Lecture theatre, B101
Abbotsford campus
2:30–4 pm

Student Advisory Committee for the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies at UFV, October 27, 2007

The CICS is looking to form a Student Advisory Committee to discuss and provide input about the current courses offered, the development of future courses, activities at the Centre and programs and events that focus on youth. 12 students from a variety of disciplines will form this advisory committee and one student advisor will be selected to sit on the community advisory committee for the CICS.  The student advisory committee will also provide input on future workshops, take a leadership role in student-focused forums, events and activities and take part in student led initiatives. 


Please attend the first meeting of the Student Advisory Committee on Thursday, October 25th from 1-3 pm at the Centre.  Click here to view Student Advisory Committee poster.  For additional information drop by the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies – University House F Building.  Contact Satwinder Bains, Director, Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies at UFV, 604-854-4547 or via email at satwinder.bains@ufv.ca

When-Tuesday, September 25 11 am - 12:30 pm
         Wednesday, September 26 1-2:30 pm
         Thursday, September 27 2:30-4 pm

May 2007

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

When- March 21, 2007 at 4:30pm

Official opening, Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies at UFV

View photos from October 28, 2006:

Official opening
Evening celebration