Drs. Anne Murphy (UBC History) and Seema Mahi (Visiting Scholar at UBC History) have launched a SSHRC-funded partnership project exploring the history and experience of caste in Canada.
Their ongoing program of research, “Caste in Canada” explores the history of caste in Canada: the experiences of individuals impacted by caste discrimination, and the anti-caste mobilization efforts of Canadian communities. Originally funded by a SSHRC Partnership Engage grant, the “Caste in Canada” project – led by Professor Anne Murphy in the Department of History, with Dr. Suraj Yengde at the University of Pennsylvania, in partnership with community anti-caste organization the Chetna Association of Canada – has documented the oral histories of individuals impacted by caste.
- Primary Investigator: Professor Anne Murphy (UBC History)
- Co-Primary Investigators: Professors Suraj Yengde (University of Pennsylvania) and Karun Karki (UBC Social Work)
- Postdoctoral Fellow: Dr. Seema Mahi (UBC History)
- Community Partner: Chetna Association of Canada
For results, see:
The second phase of the project, “The Elimination of Caste,” led by Dr. Murphy, Dr. Yengde, and Dr. Karki in the Department of Social Work at UBC, continues to document the history of caste-related experiences and anti-caste activism in Canada through oral history interviews that will be edited and made public with support from the Arts Undergraduate Research Awards (AURA) program, and the Centre for Asian Canadian Research and Engagement (ACRE). Funding through a Partnership Development grant through SSHRC has allowed the hiring of a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dalit Studies, Dr. Seema Mahi, to work on the continuing documentation of anti-caste stories in the Canadian context. Dr. Mahi is also teaching a course in the Department on the history of anti-caste activism in W2025, Term 2, probably the first of its kind in Canada!
An important component of the current phase of research is a survey meant to document knowledge about and the experience of caste in Canada. They have a created a short online survey and are inviting everybody to participate to share their experiences, knowledge, or lack-of-knowledge around caste in Canada.
Check out the survey below:
This online survey is designed to document knowledge about and the experience of caste in Canada. Dr. Mahi will be presenting preliminary findings from the survey at an upcoming Symposium, the Dr. Ambedkar Symposium on Emancipation, which is being convened at UBC Robson Square and SFU Harbour Centre on March 15 & 16, with a film screening on March 16 evening at Cinematheque in Vancouver of the film “Origin” (2023), directed by Ava DuVernay, which explores the intersections of caste and race discrimination. All are welcome to attend.
