Outside and In-Between: Theorizing Asian-Canadian Exclusion and the Challenges of Identity Formation

Asian Canadians―whether immigrant, international students, naturalized, native-born, or other―are hampered in their exploration and articulation of self by the dearth of critical writing both for them, and by them. Despite the influx of Asian students and their inflated tuition rates to Canadian postsecondary institutions, they are strikingly underrepresented in the literature of the academy. Critical theory focusing on Asian identity, anti-Asian racism, and the Asian-Canadian experience is limited, or presented as an artifact of the past.

Across the globe―but particularly in the English-speaking West―the internationalization of higher education continues its upward trend. 2017 data from the Canadian Bureau for International Education positioned Canada as the fourth-leading destination for international students seeking post-secondary education. The fact that the vast majority of international students at Canadian colleges and universities come from Asia has been well documented in domestic media, but the lived experiences and perspectives of these transnational individuals have not. This edited collection provides much-needed theorizing of Asian-Canadian lived experiences, focusing on such themes as: multiculturalism, diversity, race, culture, agency, education, community activism, citizenship, identity, model minority myths, gender, colonization, neoliberalism, and others.

Contributors include: Sarah Alam, Syed Fahad Ali, Wallis Caldoza, Valerie G. Damasco, Grace Garlow, Allison Lam, Kailan Leung, Juanna Nguyen, Dionisio Nyaga, Jasmine Pham, Vania Soepriatna, Tika Ram Thapa and Rose Ann Torres.

Rose Ann Torres is the Director and Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at Algoma University. Dr. Torres pioneered the creation of a Master of Social Work at Algoma University. She is the principal investigator of the SSHRC Insight Development Grants research project entitled “Examining Access to Mental Health Care Service: The Impact of COVID-19 on Filipino Health Care Workers in Northern Ontario” and co-principal investigator of the SSHRC Institutional Grants project titled “Effects of COVID-19 on Teaching and Learning: Stories of Indigenous and Black and Asian Faculty Members and Students at Algoma University”. She has published numerous co-edited books, peer reviewed articles and book chapters.