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Dr. Yao Xiao
PhD, Educational Studies, University of British Columbia
MA, Educational Contexts, University of Calgary
Email: yao.xiao@ubc.ca
Pronouns: they/他/佢
Dr. Yao Xiao is an interdisciplinary scholar of culture, migration, minority, and social justice education. Their research explores alternative and minoritized identities, representations, ways of life, and ways of being, with a focus on the complexity of Chinese-ness, Asian-ness, and Asia/Africa interface. Their collaborative research appears in international journals, including Cultural Studies, Critical Arts, Postcolonial Directions in Education, and Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education.
Dr. Xiao is an Associate Editor of Critical Arts: South-North Cultural and Media Studies, a Steering Committee Member of the Centre for Culture, Identity, and Education, and a founding director of Critical Alternatives, a knowledge network committed to unlearning imperialism and platforming pluriversal ways of being.
Dr. Xiao is affiliated with the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice, as well as the Department of Educational Studies, at The University of British Columbia. They teach courses in social justice, ethics, international politics, critical racial theories, contemporary Asia, and diversity education, integrating research insights and lived experiences into their curriculum and pedagogy.
A non-binary Cantonese-Hakka first-generation immigrant settler of colour on Turtle Island, Dr. Xiao has spent over a decade accompanying/walking/working with grassroots seniors and youth in and around Vancouver Chinatown, centring intergenerational memories, non-Anglophone-dominant practices, and forms of care that are non-extractive, non-saviour, and grounded in reciprocal learning.
Research Interests
Cultural Studies
Chinese Migration and Diaspora
Critical Asian Studies
Asia/Africa Interface
Social Justice Education
Diversity and Decolonial Education
Leadership and Advisory Roles
Associate Editor, Critical Arts
Steering Committee Member, Centre for Culture, Identity, and Education at UBC
Director, Hakka House
Director, Critical Alternatives Society
Director, Foundation for Chinese Dignity
Director, Chinatown Generations Society
Mentor (2021-2025), UBC Undergraduate Research Experiences Program
Peer Review and Academic Service
Academic Journals: Social Problems; Critical Arts; Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education; Comparative and International Education
Book Publishers: Routledge; Canadian Scholars & Women's Press
Awards, Prizes, and Grants
UBC Department of Educational Studies Research Fund
UBC Partnership Recognition and Exploration Fund
Presidential Research Award, Korean Association for Multicultural Education
UBC Faculty of Education Strategic Award
Inaugural Hanson Lau Graduate Research Scholarship
Latest Research and Publications
Latest Research and Publications
Whispers, Wonders, Worldmakings: Participatory Action Research with Multilingual Migrant Queer Youth of Colour
Whispers, Wonders, Worldmakings: Participatory Action Research with Multilingual Migrant Queer Youth of Colour
UBC Department of Educational Studies
This study supports multilingual migrant youth of colour (ages 17–35) who identify as queer in participatory action research to document and analyze the lived experiences of migration, identities, languages, and community-making. Using co-designed interviews and youth-led creative media, the project foregrounds participant storytelling while generating insights into intersectional identities, transnational mobility, and community formation. Findings aim to inform inclusive youth programming, policy-making, and nuanced scholarly understanding of migration, multilingualism, and racialized queer experiences in the Canadian context.
Under/Representation: A Critical Dialogue on The Politics of Identities and Difference Across Central Asia, North Asia, and Himalayan Region
Under/Representation: A Critical Dialogue on The Politics of Identities and Difference Across Central Asia, North Asia, and Himalayan Region
In collaboration with Aizada Arystanbeck, Department of Sociology, Rutgers University and Dhondup Tashi Rekjong, Department of Religious Studies, Northwestern University
This special issue of Critical Arts invites critical scholarship on Asian identities, with a focus on underrepresented regions such as Central Asia, North Asia, and the Himalayan region. Aiming for nuanced, de-Orientalized, and globally informed perspectives, the issue foregrounds lived experiences, indigenous knowledge, and local epistemologies. Contributions may explore imperial and capitalist legacies, discursive separations, solidarity-building, representation in cultural and academic production, decolonizing methodologies, and spiritual or religious worldviews. The issue seeks to advance inter-continental dialogue and knowledge production while interrogating the fluid, constructed, and contested meanings of Asian-ness.
Remembering Nelson’s Chinatown: A Window into the Past and the Future
Remembering Nelson’s Chinatown: A Window into the Past and the Future
UBC Partnership Recognition and Exploration Fund
In collaboration with the Nelson Museum, Archives & Gallery, Kootenay Co-op Radio, and the Foundation for Chinese Dignity
This project creates a large bilingual (Chinese-English) window poster to honour the Sing Chong laundry in Nelson, BC, the last remnant of the largest Chinatown in the BC Interior. Drawing on archival and oral histories, the poster foregrounds the migration, labour, and community histories of Chinese Canadians, highlighting racialized, gendered, and minoritized experiences often erased from local memory. Designed with linguistic and cultural sensitivity, it serves as a public pedagogical intervention, fostering intergenerational learning, cultural awareness, and community-university collaboration. More than a visual artifact, the project reclaims space for memory, dignity, and cultural continuity.
Re/searching The Chinese Times 《大漢公報》
Re/searching The Chinese Times 《大漢公報》
In collaboration with the Foundation for Chinese Dignity
The Chinese Times (《大漢公報》, 1907–1992) was the longest-running Chinese-language newspaper in Canada and a vital site of diasporic knowledge production. Despite its central role in Chinese Canadian life, it has received little scholarly attention due to systemic linguistic and racial exclusions in Canadian heritage narratives.
This research examines the newspaper as an archive of cultural memory, focusing on how migration, labour, gender, and community were represented from within Chinese Canadian perspectives. By combining critical media analysis with community-based collaboration, the project highlights overlooked histories and repositions The Chinese Times as a key resource for rethinking diaspora, migration, racialization, gender dynamics, heritage language, and Canadian historiography.
Related Public Lectures:
心常憤激：尋覓加華歷史中被遺忘的情感世界（粵語講座）The Indignant Heart: Re-searching Forgotten Emotional Worlds of Chinese Canadian History (Richmond Public Library, Oct 2025)
Margins of Margins: Re/searching Forgotten Chinese Canadian Journeys in The Chinese Times (Chinese Canadian Museum, July 2025)
Academic Publications: Journal Articles
Academic Publications: Journal Articles
Tomaselli, K. G., & Xiao, Y. (2023). Cultural studies in interhemispheric perspective: China, Africa, Asia, and Australasia. Critical Arts, 37(4), 1-24. [Authors contributed equally].
Wright, H. K., & Xiao, Y. (2022). “We’ve worn out the use of that word”: Australian new youth on multiculturalism, and the politics of identity, difference and belonging. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 17(1), 8-24. [Authors contributed equally].
Wright, H. K., & Xiao, Y. (2021). Decolonization and higher education: Theory, politics and global praxis. Postcolonial Directions in Education, 10(1), 23-50. [Authors contributed equally]
Wright, H. K., & Xiao, Y. (2020). African cultural studies: An overview. Critical Arts, 34(4), 1-31. [Authors contributed equally].
Xiao, Y. (2017). Who needs Cantonese, who speaks? Whispers across mountains, delta, and waterfronts. Cultural Studies, 31(4), 489–522.
Xiao, Y. (2015). Radical feelings in the “liberation zone”: Active Chinese Canadian citizenship in Richmond, BC. Citizenship Education Research Journal, 4(1), 13–28.
Xiao, Y. (2013). China’s peopleship education: Conceptual issues and policy analysis. Citizenship Teaching and Learning, 8(1), 21–39.
Academic Publications: Book Chapters
Academic Publications: Book Chapters
Tomaselli, K., & Xiao, Y. (2025). Cultural studies in interhemispherical perspective: China, Africa, Asia and Australasia. In J. Zeng, Y. Wu, & K. Tomaselli (Eds.), Remapping China at the East–West intersection. Routledge. [Authors contributed equally to the chapter.]
Wright, H. K., & Xiao, Y. (2024). African cultural studies: An overview. In K. G. Tomaselli & H. R. Wright (Eds.), An anthology of African cultural studies: Volume I. Groundings (pp.1–31). Routledge. [Authors contributed equally to the chapter.]
Xiao, Y., & Wright, H. K. (2022). Culture. In R. Tierney, F. Rizvi, and K. Ercikan (eds.). International Encyclopedia of Education (4th edition).Elsevier. [Authors contributed equally to the chapter.]
Shan, H., Hua, Q., & Xiao, Y. (2022). Work and learning: Power, politics, and approaches. In R. Tierney, F. Rizvi, and K. Ercikan (eds.). International Encyclopedia of Education (4th edition). Elsevier. [Authors contributed equally to the chapter.]
Highlights of Previous Research
Highlights of Previous Research
Chinese Pride? Searching Between Gendered Diasporas and Multicultural States (Principal Investigator), 2013 – 2017. Researched the complexity of Chinese identities, cultures, and pride, especially in Canadian multicultural cities where Chinese diasporas have significant presences; outputs include a PhD dissertation and two academic journal articles.
Postmulticulturalism: Identity, Difference and Belonging after Multiculturalism (Research Associate; Principal Investigator: Dr. Handel Kashope Wright), 2017 –2019. Conducted comprehensive literature review of multiculturalism policies globally and qualitative analysis of new youth identities in Sydney, Australia; outputs include a co-authored academic journal article and a co-authored international conference presentation.
尋影覓跡 The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act (Researcher & Translator; Principal Investigators: Catherine Clement and June Chow), 2021 – 2024. Researched diasporic Chinese historical newspapers and community archives in Canada; outputs include museum exhibition at the Chinese Canadian Museum, multiple team awards at provincial and national levels, a book, a bilingual poetry contest, as well as public lecturers presented at the Chinese Canadian Museum and Richmond Public Library.
水記得 How Water Remembers (Researcher & Translator; Principal Investigator: Laiwan), 2021 – 2022. Researched the interconnections of ethics, education, and water in ancient Taoist texts, Chinese folk cultures, and Sinophone diasporas; outputs include a cross-cultural public exhibition and a place-based community engagement activity on cultural heritage.
Upcoming Public & Community Events
Upcoming Public & Community Events
Public Scholarship and Engagements
Public Lectures
Rural Culture and the Making of Chinese Canadian Identities. (Chinese Canadian Voices Series, Richmond Public Library, July 2026)
心聲未曾說：以華語視角重讀加華文化及身份 （國語講座） Beyond Anglophone-centric lenses: Re-reading Chinese Canadian Cultures and Identities Through Sinophone Perspectives (Chinese Canadian Voices Series, Richmond Public Library, March 2026)
心常憤激：尋覓加華歷史中被遺忘的情感世界（粵語講座）The Indignant Heart: Re-searching Forgotten Emotional Worlds of Chinese Canadian History (Chinese Canadian Voices Series, Richmond Public Library, October 2025)
Margins of Margins: Re/searching Forgotten Chinese Canadian Journeys in The Chinese Times (Chinese Canadian Museum, July 2025)
Speaker at Public Panels
Big Fight in Little Chinatown. LUSH Cosmetics (May 2025)
West Asia + North Africa + East Asia: A Global Youth Dialogue to Unlearn Orientalism. Critical Alternatives, Centre for Culture, Identity and Education & UBC Campus and Community Planning (April 2025)
·Hidden costs: Examining the challenges of the international student experience in Canada. UBC Global Lounge (March 2023)
Youth, culture, and migration. Cultural Leadership Program, City of Richmond (March 2018)
Presentations at Conferences and Symposiums
Food for the body, food for the soul: Tracing the Republic of China’s Transpacific Lifelines, 1915–1948. Reframing Modern Histories Across the Taiwan Strait: Entanglements, Divergences, and Global Connections. (Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, August 2026)
Food Is People's Cosmos. Cultivating Resilience Summit: Advancing Climate-Smart Agri-Food (Vancouver, Canada, October 2025)
Racialized Youth Civic Participation and Identities Symposium (York University, Toronto, Canada, February 2025)
Korean Association for Multicultural Education International Conference (Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea, May 2019)
Decolonize This! International Theorizing and Praxis of Decolonization Symposium (Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies & Centre for Culture, Identity and Education, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, November 2018)
International Conference on Cultural Studies and Education (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, May 2017)
"Cantonese identification and migration: A perspective from the Yuebei Mountains", The 9th International Conference of the International Society for the Study of Chinese Overseas (ISSCO) (Richmond, Canada, July 2016)
"Transnational Chineseness in/as educational praxis: International students, migrant youth, local activists, and other mixed voices”, The 60th Comparative and International Education Society Conference (Vancouver, Canada, March 2016)
"Navigate communities, activate communities: Voices from Vancouver and Calgary", The 17th National Metropolis Conference (Vancouver, Canada, March 2015)
"The good, the bad, and the ugly: Educational narratives of migrant worker families in urban China", Asian-Pacific World in Motion International Conference (St. John's College, Vancouver, Canada, May 2013)
"Filial piety in Filipino, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese families: Asian values in Canadian context", Annual Conference of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (Fredericton, Canada, June 2012)
Media
A people whose name means “guest” welcome visitors to Hakka House in Vancouver’s Chinatown (Pancouver, September 22, 2026)
Heritage groups clash over how to commemorate Nanaimo's Chinatown (Times Colonist, September 11, 2026)
Ancestors remembered in ceremony at Old Hillcrest Chinese Cemetery in Cowichan (Cowichan Valley Citizen, November 5, 2025)
勿忘華人歷史：溫哥華島華人墓園獲列為遺產名錄 (Sing Tao Daily, November 3, 2025)
Chinatown Memorial Plaza Redesign (Fairchild TV News, April 2025)
Columnist (Evergreen News, 2017 - present): Published over 80 articles on topics including ethnicity, diaspora, ecology, education, identity, culture, and migration. Evergreen News is a community newspaper serving diverse diasporic Chinese-speaking communities in Canada since 1985.
Select Courses Taught
Select Courses Taught
Dr. Yao Xiao has taught a variety of courses on social justice, critical studies, and diversity education in universities.
EDST 578: Multiculturalism and its Critical Alternatives: Diversity in Education and Society
EDST 575: Work and Learning
EDST 401: Education, School, and Social Institutions
EDST 403: Knowledge, Education, and Curriculum
EDST 404: Ethics and Teaching
GRSJ 315: Critical Racial Theories
GRSJ 306: Globalization and Social Justice: Gender, Race, and Sexuality in International Politics
GRSJ 235: Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Structures in Modern Asia
GRSJ 230: Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Representation in Modern Asia
ASIA 3154: Chinese Cinema and Society
ASIA 2120: Introduction to Chinese and Japanese Cinema
ASIA 1100: Introducing Asia
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