Conference Programme

About UCCS 

The Undergraduate Conference of Chinese Studies (UCCS) is an academic meeting held at UBC, devoted to planned programs of undergraduate research on a wide range of subjects related to the teaching and learning of Chinese Studies. A fledgling undergraduate forum to be held once a year, UCCS invites young scholars to present new research, engage in discussions, and build professional skills.

UCCS 2022 Theme

Barriers Transcended

Featured Speakers

Keynote Speaker: Christopher Rea, Professor of Modern Chinese Literature, UBC

Guest Speaker: Kay Duffy, Assistant Professor of Premodern Sinitic Poetry, UBC 

Guest Speaker: Renren Yang, Assistant Professor of Modern Chinese Popular Culture, UBC

UCCS 2022 Panels

Panel 1: Classical Chinese Literature (中國古代文學研究)

Panel 2: Modern & Contemporary Chinese Literature (中國現當代文學研究)

Panel 3: Chinese Film Studies (中國電影研究)

Form of Presentation

UBC UCCS 3MT 2022 will comprise two stages of competition:

1. Virtual Competition (Semi-finals): presenters will give presentations on pre-taped videos, to be posted on the Canvas website of the conference. The semi-finals will take place from February 1-28, 2022.

2. In-person Competition (Final): 10 finalists will each deliver a talk no longer than 3 minutes based on an academic paper, without QA session after the talk. The final will take place on April 1, 2022, at Asian Centre Auditorium, UBC.

Engage in Discussion (On Canvas)

Each presentation is embedded in a discussion board. If you are a presenter, please regularly check back in your discussion board and respond to questions. If you are an audience, you may follow Panel links or Discussion threads to reach individual presentations. After watching a presentation, click on the “Reply” button at the bottom of the discussion board and raise questions or comments about the research made by the presenter.

You are encouraged to apply the perspectives, tools, and methods of research you’ve learned in the CHIN 450+ courses to a productive discussion. Discussion in an academic discourse can sometimes be stressful to both sides. Therefore, it is important to keep in mind the following principles while engaging in discussions:

  • Be confident that a small question or comment will help start rolling the snowball.
  • Do not worry about saying something “wrong” or inaccurate, which can always be adjusted in the process of dialogue.
  • Whereas it is not necessary to always agree with others, be positive and respectful to ideas from others.

Note: Participants self-enrolled to the Canvas conference will not meet and get engaged online simultaneously; instead, you may choose to browse through presentations, engage in discussions, and vote for outstanding presenters at your convenience within the 3-week event period.

If you are a UBC student, faculty, or staff, please click Here to self-enroll in the Canvas website of UCCS 2022.  

Discussants

Miaoling Xue (Ph.D. Candidate, UBC)

Jiaqi Yao (Ph.D. Candidate, UBC)

Zheng Cai (Lecturer of Chinese Language and Literature, UBC)

Discussants help to create and guide a natural flow of discussions whenever it is necessary.

Q & A Forum (For Logistical Inquiries and Suggestions in General)

Use the Q & A Forum to make inquiries, comments and suggestions which you consider related to the event as a whole. Your input is very important to the betterment of the conference both for the moment and future.

Vote for the Outstanding (on Canvas)

During the semi-finals held on Canvas, go to the Survey to vote for the most outstanding presentations. You may choose 10 candidates in a list of all presenters and submit your vote. 10 Most Outstanding Presentations will be decided based on the poll and enter the final competition. While voting is made as simple as possible in this event, you may want to evaluate the presentations according to the following criteria:

  • The research is original and creative;
  • The flow of argumentation is solid and logical;
  • The presentation is delivered in good diction and facial/body posture;
  • Visual materials such as slides are easy to read and process;
  • The presenter answers questions in a thoughtful and persuasive manner.

Looking into the Future

As the organizer of the conference, the UBC Student Society of Sinology should involve passionate organizers of events, designers with innovative ideas, and young scholars dedicated to research. If you look forward to exercising your expertise in these aspects, please send an email to Dr. Zheng Cai at zheng.cai@ubc.ca with a brief CV.

Call For Papers (UCCS 2022)

Undergraduate students at UBC are invited to submit abstracts for the UBC Undergraduate Conference of Chinese Studies 3-Minute Thesis Competition 2022, to be held at UBC from February to April, 2022. The conference will provide student researchers with the valuable opportunity to present their academic work in front of UBC faculty and fellow students. We welcome applications from students engaged in research on all fields in Chinese Studies. While applicants may situate their work in disciplines, including language, literature, cinema, history, etc., we especially encourage works that cross disciplinary boundaries to interrogate new possibilities of Chinese Studies.

Applicants are expected to submit a 200-Chinese-character or 150-English-word abstract, via the self-nomination link at HERE, by January 15, 2022. The proposals will be reviewed by reviewers based on the criteria of theoretical clarity, proposal structure, contribution to the field, and relevance to the conference theme and sub-fields. Acceptance of proposals will be issued afterwards, with instructions on how to upload your 3-minute video-taped presentation onto Canvas for the semi-finals.

Major Dates (UCCS 2022)

Call for Paper: All Year Round

Submission deadline: January 15

Virtual Competition (Semi-finals): February 01-28, Canvas

Announcement of Finalists: March 01

In-person Competition (Final): April 01, Asian Centre Auditorium, UBC