ASIA 475: Documenting Punjabi Canada

This class allows students to work independently and in groups to explore the history of the Punjabi Canadian community through traditional text-based methods and oral history collection (in English or Punjabi). Final projects take the form of an academic paper or a short video or sound project. The class provided an introduction to Punjabi Canadian history and assisted students in framing, researching, and completing independent group or individual projects on any theme, but special focus was encouraged on the commemoration of “Canada 150+” in 2017, and on Punjabi Canadian labour history in British Columbia, for which rich materials were made available.

UBC Asian Studies Ph.D. candidate and documentary filmmaker Ajay Bhardwaj taught “Documenting Punjabi Canada” in W2017, producing a new group of student projects, some of which are now available below. Additional film projects were completed for which permission was not granted for public viewing; some students also opted to write academic papers for the final project assignment. All embraced Oral History as a way of exploring local Punjabi Canadian and related histories.

Exploring Punjabi Music in Canada:

Panjah Saal da Safar — 50 Year Journey

The South Okanagan Punjabi Community