Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Studies (PhD)

Overview

UBC's Asian Studies Department is the flagship Asian Studies department in Canada and is widely acknowledged as one of the finest in North America. The Department awards a PhD in Asian Studies to students working in a variety of regions and disciplines.

The department boasts over 20 graduate faculty, as well as a many tenure-track instructors and lecturers with wide-ranging expertise. Our more than 60 graduate students specialize in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and South Asian Studies and craft individual programs within and across various humanities disciplines, including linguistics, literary study, history, philosophy, religious studies, and popular and visual culture. The Department offers instruction in the following languages: Cantonese, Modern and Classical Chinese, Hindi/Urdu, Modern and Classical Japanese, Korean, Persian, Punjabi, and Sanskrit.

The department is a hub for research activities related to Asia, including large collaborative projects, multiple lecture series and workshops, and professional development opportunities, which provide students ample opportunities to develop their expertise, pursue their interests, and develop professional connections with scholars from around the world. It also regularly hosts postdoctoral fellows and visiting scholars. In addition to the guaranteed four years of funding to all PhD students, the program offers a range of funding opportunities and support for research activities.

For specific program requirements, please refer to the departmental program website

$40,000

Minimum funding per year^*

Enrolled students

8.4

Average years to completion

What makes the program unique?

In addition to our strengths in language and literary studies, the Asian Studies Department stands out for the geographic and disciplinary breadth of its faculty. It offers a range of coursework, from specialized research seminars to comparative Pan-Asian, methodological and professional development courses, drawing on the diversity of faculty and student specializations.

The UBC Library is the second-largest research library in Canada and the Asian Library boasts one of the finest Asian collections in North America, with a particular strength in East Asian materials.

The UBC curriculum is much more advanced, challenging, and research intensive, which will allows me to enhance my academic skills and critical abilities further.

Shubham Arora

Quick Facts

Faculty Faculty of Arts

Academic Unit Department of Asian Studies

Specialization Asian Studies

Mode of delivery In person at UBC Vancouver

Program Components Dissertation

Tuition (First Year) Domestic: 5,738.52 | International: 10,081.65

Median Funding 50% of students receive $45,505 or more funding in each of the first four years, before tuition and fees

Tuition & Financial Support

Tuition

Fees	Canadian Citizen / Permanent Resident / Refugee / Diplomat	International
Application Fee	$118.50	$168.25
Tuition *
Installments per year	3	3
Tuition per installment	$1,912.84	$3,360.55
Tuition per year (plus annual increase, usually 2%-5%)	$5,738.52	$10,081.65
Int. Tuition Award (ITA) per year (if eligible)		$3,200.00 (-)
Other Fees and Costs
Student Fees (yearly)	$1,169.35 (approx.)
Costs of living	Estimate your costs of living with our interactive tool in order to start developing a financial plan for your graduate studies.

* Regular, full-time tuition. For on-leave, extension, continuing or part time (if applicable) fees see UBC Calendar.
All fees for the year are subject to adjustment and UBC reserves the right to change any fees without notice at any time, including tuition and student fees. Tuition fees are reviewed annually by the UBC Board of Governors. In recent years, tuition increases have been 2% for continuing domestic students and between 2% and 5% for continuing international students. New students may see higher increases in tuition. Admitted students who defer their admission are subject to the potentially higher tuition fees for incoming students effective at the later program start date. In case of a discrepancy between this webpage and the UBC Calendar, the UBC Calendar entry will be held to be correct.

Financial Support

Applicants to UBC have access to a variety of funding options, including merit-based (i.e. based on your academic performance) and need-based (i.e. based on your financial situation) opportunities.

Program Funding Packages

All full-time students in UBC-Vancouver PhD programs will be provided with a funding package of at least $40,000 for each of the first four years of their PhD from September 2026. The funding package may consist of any combination of internal or external awards, teaching-related work, research assistantships, and graduate academic assistantships. Please check with your prospective graduate program for specific details of the funding provided to its PhD students.

Funding Statistics

Please note that effective September 2026, UBC’s guaranteed funding for full-time PhD students in years 1-4 was raised significantly, to a minimum of $40,000 per year. These historical statistics do not account for this change, i.e., the funding landscape for incoming students is not necessarily comparable to the historical values.

Based on the criteria outlined below, 11 students within this program were included in this study because they received funding through UBC in the form of teaching, research, academic assistantships or internal or external awards with a mean of $46,268 and a median of $45,505.

This results in a net balance (any funding provided to the student minus tuition and fees) mean of $35,319 and median of $34,239.

5 students received Teaching Assistantships. Median TA funding based on 5 students was $15,420.
5 students received Research Assistantships. Median RA funding based on 5 students was $10,000.
5 students received Academic Assistantships. Median AA funding based on 5 students was $2,282.
11 students received internal awards. Median internal award funding based on 11 students was $35,175.

Study Period: Sep 2024 to Aug 2025 - funding for full-time PhD students enrolled in three terms per academic year in this program across years 1-4, the period covered by UBC's Minimum Funding Guarantee. Mean and median values might mask variability in sources and amounts of funding received by individual students. Beyond year 4, funding packages become even more individualized.
Review methodology

Scholarships & awards (merit-based funding)

All applicants are encouraged to review the awards listing to identify potential opportunities to fund their graduate education. The database lists merit-based scholarships and awards and allows for filtering by various criteria, such as domestic vs. international or degree level.

Graduate Research Assistantships (GRA)

Many professors are able to provide Research Assistantships (GRA) from their research grants to support full-time graduate students studying under their supervision. The duties constitute part of the student's graduate degree requirements. A Graduate Research Assistantship is considered a form of fellowship for a period of graduate study and is therefore not covered by a collective agreement. Stipends vary widely, and are dependent on the field of study and the type of research grant from which the assistantship is being funded.

Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTA)

Graduate programs may have Teaching Assistantships available for registered full-time graduate students. Full teaching assistantships involve 12 hours work per week in preparation, lecturing, or laboratory instruction although many graduate programs offer partial TA appointments at less than 12 hours per week. Teaching assistantship rates are set by collective bargaining between the University and the Teaching Assistants' Union.

Graduate Academic Assistantships (GAA)

Academic Assistantships are employment opportunities to perform work that is relevant to the university or to an individual faculty member, but not to support the student’s graduate research and thesis. Wages are considered regular earnings and when paid monthly, include vacation pay.

Financial aid (need-based funding)

Canadian and US applicants may qualify for governmental loans to finance their studies. Please review eligibility and types of loans.

All students may be able to access private sector or bank loans.

UBC has working agreements with MPower Financing - an organization providing international students with no-cosigner, no-collateral education loans to study in Canada - and Windmill Microlending - an organization providing loans to skilled immigrants.

Foreign government scholarships

Many foreign governments provide support to their citizens in pursuing education abroad. International applicants should check the various governmental resources in their home country, such as the Department of Education, for available scholarships.

Working while studying

The possibility to pursue work to supplement income may depend on the demands the program has on students. It should be carefully weighed if work leads to prolonged program durations or whether work placements can be meaningfully embedded into a program.

International students enrolled as full-time students with a valid study permit can work on campus for unlimited hours and work off-campus for no more than 24 hours a week during academic sessions.

A good starting point to explore student jobs is the UBC Work Learn program or a Co-Op placement.

Tax credits and RRSP withdrawals

Students with taxable income in Canada may be able to claim federal or provincial tax credits.

Canadian residents with RRSP accounts may be able to use the Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP) which allows students to withdraw amounts from their registered retirement savings plan (RRSPs) to finance full-time training or education for themselves or their partner.

Please review Filing taxes in Canada on the student services website for more information.

Cost Estimator

Applicants have access to the cost estimator to develop a financial plan that takes into account various income sources and expenses.

Enrolment, Duration & Other Stats

These statistics show data for the Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Studies (PhD). Data are separated for each degree program combination. You may view data for other degree options in the respective program profile.

ENROLMENT DATA

	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
Applications	57	83	57	52	55
Offers	3	4	7	0	11
New Registrations	2	3	4	0	5
Total Enrolment	29	33	36	35	35

Completion Rates and Times

This program has a graduation rate of 68.4% based on 19 students admitted between 2012 - 2015. Based on 9 graduations between 2021 - 2024 the minimum time to completion is 7 years and the maximum time is 10 years with an average of 8.4 years of study. All calculations exclude leave times.

Disclaimer

Admissions data refer to all UBC Vancouver applications, offers, new registrants for each registration year, May to April, e.g. data for 2022 refers to programs starting in 2022 Summer and 2022 Winter session, i.e. May 1, 2022 to April 30, 2023. Data on total enrolment reflects enrolment in Winter Session Term 1 and are based on snapshots taken on November 1 of each registration year. Program completion data are only provided for datasets comprised of more than 4 individuals. Graduation rates exclude students who transfer out of their programs. Rates and times of completion depend on a number of variables (e.g. curriculum requirements, student funding), some of which may have changed in recent years for some programs.

Doctoral Citations

A doctoral citation summarizes the nature of the independent research, provides a high-level overview of the study, states the significance of the work and says who will benefit from the findings in clear, non-specialized language, so that members of a lay audience will understand it.

Year	Citation
2025	Dr. Kim examined Korea’s military reform and exile policies from 1863 to 1894. He found that military service was viewed as a social disgrace and reforms remained deeply rooted in traditional values. His work challenges Eurocentric narratives of military history during this period.
2024	Dr. Eshghi Furuzawa analyzed Japanese short stories from the By Women, For Women R-18 Literary Prize. Through an examination of the historical role of governments, publishers and libraries in managing access to sexual writing, she argues that the prize stories represent a source of sexual knowledge and empowerment that challenge chastity ideals.
2024	Dr. Hanlon’s research investigated several poetry matches from tenth- to twelfth-century Japan. His research examined matches with clever riddles, sassy love poems, and political drama, provided insight into the history of Japanese poetic games, and included translations and explanations for 140 waka poems.
2024	Dr. Ze examined Sino-Korean relations in the late nineteenth century as seen through case studies involving Chinese merchants on the Korean peninsula. By analyzing a series of case studies, her research provided insights into the transition of regional order from a tributary system to the world order of international law in the late nineteenth century.
2024	Dr. Blum analyzed the transformation of plants into humans in premodern Japanese short fiction. She showed that plant characters offered religious and educational messages to readers and listeners while providing entertainment and the novelty of the supernatural.Her work provides new insights into the matrix of Buddhism and popular culture in that period.
2024	Dr. Sembi studied the Suraj Prakash (1843), a pivotal historical narrative on the lives of the Sikh Gurus. The study revealed how precolonial Sikh scholars were engaged with diverse transreligious philosophical and mythological currents, contributing to the understanding of Sikh history and its methods prior to colonial influence.
2024	Dr. Diwan studied how and why audiences in India watch video streaming media. Her work shows the role of factors like language, geolocation, fandom etc. in digital viewership practices. By theorizing this set of audience behavior, she developed the concept of the interactive viewer to advance the understanding of digital audiences in Media Studies.
2023	Dr. Takano explored how massive population movements around the turn of the fifteenth century influenced Chinese literature by analyzing the writings of Li Dongyang (1447-1516). He found that Li expressed a conflicted geographic identity as a descendant of migrants sandwiched between his ancestral hometown and his place of residence in Beijing.
2023	Dr. Liu has shown the poetics of pidgin in Chinese literature. She challenges the stigmas associated with this language, emphasizing its aesthetics that embrace ambiguities and invite diverse interpretations. Through pidgin, her study reconfigures understandings of transcultural interaction and bridges Sinophone and Anglophone literatures.
2023	Dr. Collins demonstrated how the Japanese new religion Shinnyo-en is shaped by sacred stories about its founders. He found that members form emotional bonds with one another, the founders, and the organization by intertwining the founders' narratives with their own lives and with elements of Japanese Buddhist ritual, objects, spaces, and art.

Tanzoom Ahmed

Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Studies (PhD)

Understanding Muslim Women in urban marginalized spaces of South Asia

Parboti Roy

Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Studies (PhD)

Violence against Indigenous women in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh: the lived experiences of Adibashi women and their navigational mechanisms to address violence

Shota Iwasaki

Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Studies (PhD)

Fostering Awareness of Marginalized People through Literature: A Case Study of Critical Literary Pedagogy by a Marginalized Instructor

Program Website

Program Enquiries

Still have questions after reviewing this page thoroughly?
Contact the program

Supervisor Search

Departments/Programs may update graduate degree program details through the Faculty & Staff portal. To update contact details for application inquiries, please use this form.

Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Studies (PhD)

Overview

What makes the program unique?

Quick Facts

Admission Information & Requirements

1) Check Eligibility

Minimum Academic Requirements

English Language Test

TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language - internet-based

IELTS: International English Language Testing System

Other Test Scores

2) Meet Deadlines

3) Prepare Application

Transcripts

Letters of reference

Statement of Interest

Supervision

Instructions regarding thesis supervisor contact for this program

Citizenship Verification

4) Apply Online

Tuition & Financial Support

Tuition

Financial Support

Program Funding Packages

Funding Statistics

Scholarships & awards (merit-based funding)

Graduate Research Assistantships (GRA)

Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTA)

Graduate Academic Assistantships (GAA)

Financial aid (need-based funding)

Foreign government scholarships

Working while studying

Tax credits and RRSP withdrawals

Cost Estimator

Career Outcomes

Sample Employers in Higher Education

Sample Job Titles Outside Higher Education

PhD Career Outcome Survey

Disclaimer

Career Options

Enrolment, Duration & Other Stats

ENROLMENT DATA

Completion Rates and Times

Disclaimer

Doctoral Exams Upcoming

Tuesday, April 21, 2026 - 12:30 - Room 200

Research Supervisors

Supervision

Instructions regarding thesis supervisor contact for this program

Advice and insights from UBC Faculty on reaching out to supervisors

Sample Thesis Submissions

Doctoral Citations

Related Programs

Same specialization

Further Information

Specialization

UBC Calendar

Program Website

Faculty

Academic Unit

Program Identifier

Classification

Tanzoom Ahmed

Parboti Roy

Shota Iwasaki

Program Enquiries

Social Media Channels

Supervisor Search

Experience the colours of Vancouver