The Amphitheatre That Isn't:
Insight Into the Mechanisms and Effects of Diasporic Guilt in Asian Canadians
A Qualitative Thesis Project
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Principle Researcher:
SAHANA BABU
PSYCHOLOGY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT, UBC
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Advisor:
DR. BENJAMIN Y. CHEUNG
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY, UBC
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Course:
ACAM 320B
DEPT. OF ASIAN CANADIAN & ASIAN MIGRATION STUDIES, UBC
Find the full research paper here:
In this qualitative study, Babu explores a topic that isn’t often studied, but certainly has a pervasive impact on the lives of the diaspora – diasporic guilt. When bad things happen “back home,” diasporic communities invariably feel helpless, not knowing what to do or how to help make things better. How do we support our people when we’re so far away? We have the privilege of being able to be away from all the bad things, but how should we use it? Babu interviews several individuals to get their thoughts on their respective experiences with things happening “back home.” With increased migration over time, such questions will only become even more important predictors of diasporic wellbeing. Where do diaspora find support, and how do we assuage such helplessness when turmoil hits home?
To explore this topic on diasporic experiences and transnational identities further, I highly recommend the following resources:
Mitchell, K. (1997). Different Diasporas and the Hype of Hybridity. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 15(5), 533–553. https://doi.org/10.1068/d150533
Schiller, N., Basch, L., & Blanc-Szanton, C. (1992). Transnationalism: A New Analytic Framework for Understanding Migration. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 645(1 Towards a Tra), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1992.tb33484.x