Associate Professor, History
Principal, St. John’s College
henry.yu@ubc.ca
Dr. Henry Yu is a scholar of Chinese migration, focused in particular on trans-Pacific migrations. He is involved in the Hong Kong Canada Cross Currents project (2012–2018) that is examining the flows of people, goods, and ideas between Hong Kong and Canada from 1962 to 2012, and was the Project Lead for a $1.17 million public history project entitled “Chinese Canadian Stories” between 2010-2012. Chinese Canadian Stories was a collaboration between UBC, SFU, and 29 community groups across Canada. Featuring a web portal as well as resources for researchers and teachers. The object was to engage scholars with K–12 teachers and community groups to collaborative create new research and learning materials. New oral histories and resources were created and made accessible on the internet, as well as through mobile museum kiosks and accessible electronic teaching resources. The project was completed in 2012.
Dr. Yu has also been working on a project entitled “The Cantonese Pacific” that focuses on the movement of Cantonese migrants over the last two centuries from eight counties in Guangdong province, back and forth through the port of Hong Kong across and around the Pacific. In particular, he is interested in how these migrants shaped the rise of a Pacific world, both as the conveyors of knowledge and goods in multiple directions, as well as the catalysts for the shaping of national identities in white settler nations such as Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.
Full profile:
http://www.history.ubc.ca/people/henry-yu