The Institute of Asian Research (IAR) is the focal point on Asia policy and current affairs at the University of British Columbia as well as for interdisciplinary scholarship on modern and pre-modern Asia.
Since its founding in 1978, the IAR has served as the premier Asia-focused research institute and think tank in Canada, serving as an active hub for research, teaching, policy support, and community engagement.
Campus
Vancouver
Affiliated UBC Faculty & Postdocs
| Name | Role | Research Interests |
|---|---|---|
| Hopewell, Kristen | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Public policy; International Political Economy; international relations; international trade; Trade Policy; Global Governance; industrial policy; Development; emerging powers; China; India; Brazil; World Trade Organization (WTO); US-China relations |
| Laffin, Christina | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Humanities and the arts; premodern Japanese literature; medieval Japanese history; women's writing; Japanese women's history; travel writing; autobiography; Japanese poetry; Literacy; socialization; wet nursing; narratology |
| Li, Xiaojun | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | International relations; Comparative politics; International Political Economy; International Security; Foreign Policy Analysis |
| Ostwald, Kai | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Political science; Comparative Politics; Development; Southeast Asia; geopolitics; Elections; hybrid regimes and authoritarian politics |