Asian Heritage Month- Past Events for 2021

All of Me: Exploring LGBTQ2S+ Asian Canadian Identities through Performance & Discussion

May 28, 2021

This event was open to students, staff, faculty, and external community.

Attendees acknowledges and celebrated LGBTQ2S+ Asian Canadian identities through performance and explored the role intersectional activism and post-secondary environments in transforming anti-Asian advocacy. This event was jointly hosted with the Sexual and Gender Diversity Office (SGDO), the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Office (EDIO) at UTM, the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Office (EDIO) at UTSC, and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Office.

This event included performances followed by a moderated panel discussion with performers. Performers included:

Mahfam Nikoo

Events and Communications Coordinator – Career Exploration & Education
University of Toronto and Poet/Writer

Chase Lo

Actor/Playwright/Interdisciplinary Artist

Ms. Nookie Galore

Drag Artist


Film Screening: Under the Willow Tree: Pioneer Chinese Women in Canada

May 25, 2021

This event was open to students, staff, faculty, and external community.

Under the Willow Tree: Pioneer Chinese Women in Canada is a tale of courageous women who left behind their families, knowing they would never see them again and of girls who were shipped off to the New World to marry men they had never met. These are the women who fought against the many forms of racism they faced in Canada while, at the same time, challenging sexism within their own communities. By passing on language, culture, and values to their children, these women defined what it means to be Chinese Canadian. Beautiful old photographs from family albums, the recollections of seven women who grew up in Canada in the first half of the 20th century, and the memories of narrator and director, Dora Nipp, whose grandfather came to Canada in 1881 to build the railway, create a remarkable story of stunning impact.

This film is 51 minutes and was followed by a Q & A panel with the following panelists:

Xing Fan

Associate Professor, Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies
University of Toronto

Amanda Ann-Min Wong

Filmmaker
Master of Arts Student, Cinema Studies Institute, University of Toronto

Lisa Rose Mar 

Associate Professor, Department of History
University of Toronto

Lesley Mak (moderator)

Assistant Dean & Registrar, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing
University of Toronto