Outreach/Service

I am involved, along with research lab members, in several outreach projects with local Southeast Asian communities including:

SaPa O’Chau Social Enterprise in Lào Cai province, Vietnam. Founded and directed by an indigenous minority Hmong woman Shu Tan (the only Hmong to have started a social enterprise in Vietnam), this social enterprise supports education and training for minority children and young adults.

I provide feedback on budget, teaching and fund-raising for this social enterprise.

Through a small grant from National Geographic US (Legacy Fund) I designed the project “Hmong Voices” in collaboration with Sapa O’Chau. This project ‘gives voice’ or a space for Hmong elders and craftspeople in Sa Pa District, Lao Cai province, in the northern Vietnam uplands, to talk about their understandings of local history and their lives, and to explain different traditional crafts. The project is also a way for younger Hmong men and women working as trekking guides at Sapa O’Chau to learn more about their heritage, by being a core part of the project.

Sapa O'Chau 2

 

Department contributions

  • Geography Honour’s Programme Co-ordinator and Advisor, Sept 2011-
  • Equity Committee member, 2013-
  • Department Facebook co-ordinator, 2012-
  • Reappointment, Promotion, and Tenure Committee 2016-; 2009-12.

University contributions

  • University Research Ethics Board (REB-I). Chair 2016-; Signing member, 2009-2016.
  • Senate Sub-Committee on Women. Member, 2009-; Co-chair, 2013-2016.
  • MAUT Non-discrimination Committee. Member 2014-
  • University Selection Committee, SSHRC Impact Awards. Member 2013-
  • Pre-Departure Orientation sessions. Leader/facilitator of Regional Break-out session for Southeast Asia 2013-
  • Institute for the Study of International Development, Faculty Member 2005-
  • Department of East Asian Studies, Associate Member 2003-
  • Centre for East Asian Research, Associate Member 2002-
  • Joint Board Senate Committee on Equity. Member 2012-2016.
  • Joint Board Senate Committee on Equity. Working Group on Systemic Bias. Member 2014-2016.
  • Inquiry Network – McGill Teaching and Learning Services. Member 2011-2014.