The Asian Institute is looking for student journalists who are interested in contributing short articles about Asia to our upcoming blog! Current and former students of the University of Toronto are invited to submit short blog entries (about 250-500 words) that relate to contemporary South, East, or Southeast Asia, as well as Asian culture in Canada.

For example, you could write blog entries about any of the following topics:

– A place you discovered on a trip to Asia and your thoughts about it.

– A critique of an Asian film that was screening at a neighbourhood arts festival.

– A popular Toronto Asian restaurant or a new food craze, like the Japanese izakayas or Korean pojang-machas that are popping up in the hip areas of the city.

– An interesting concept or fact that you learnt about in a South Asian Studies or Contemporary Asian Studies course that blew your mind.

– Your thoughts on an event or phenomenon taking place in Asia that you’ve been following but that hasn’t been getting much attention in international news.

But those are just ideas – we welcome any submissions that examine Asian topics in a thoughtful way. Don’t worry about making your blog entry sound academic, as we’d like this blog to be a place where students can express their thoughts comfortably and casually, sharing ideas with each other without worrying about formality. This is a great opportunity for students to engage with topics that interest them personally, and have their work published for others to enjoy!

Also, photos that could accompany your blog posts are highly encouraged. Please make sure that you include the photographer’s name in your submission, or let us know if you took the photo yourself, so that we can properly credit the artist.

If you’d like to a submit a blog entry to be considered for publication on our new website, please send an e-mail to ai.asianstudies@utoronto.ca with your name, program, year of study (or let us know if you are an alumnus), your entry, and any photos you’d like to include!

We look forward to reading your entries, and seeing Asia through your perspective. We’ll also be awarding a prize to the best blog post of the year next spring!