About the prize
The UBC Undergraduate Prize in Library Research is a way to showcase students’ effective and innovative use of library services, information experts and resources provided by the UBC Library. Applications for these prizes also provide students with an opportunity to reflect on their information-seeking experience, showcase their research beyond the classroom, and promote scholarship excellence at the undergraduate level at the University of British Columbia.
The Prize was established by UBC Library to encourage more and deeper use of its resources and collections, to advance information literacy at UBC, and to promote academic excellence at UBC.
Q: Could you tell us a little bit about your project?
My project, (Extra)ordinary People: Familial Memory and Heterotopia in the Visual Chinatown of Yucho Chow, was written as a term paper for my history seminar, HIST 490R: History Through Photographs – Exploring Photographic Archives, taught by Dr. Kelly McCormick. That said, I actually first encountered the photography of Yucho Chow in a 200-level iteration of this course during my second year. When I saw the many different families his portraits depicted, I was just amazed by how his body of work seemed to resonate through space and time, presenting histories of not just everyday, ordinary people, but of the broader history of Vancouver as well. With this project, I saw an opportunity to deeply engage with Chow’s photography and better familiarize myself with the city where I was born and raised.
Q: What does winning this prize mean to you?
“This project was a labour of love, and the resources available to me via the library have been essential to its completion.”
I am nothing short of flattered! I would love to thank Dr. McCormick for bringing the study of material culture and photographic history to UBC. Over these past two years, she has always been supportive of my interests and has instilled in me the courage to apply for awards like this. Had it not been for her, I probably would not have heard of Yucho Chow in the first place. I would also like to thank UBC Library for offering a prize like this. Speaking for my own work, I probably spend more time compiling and flipping through resources than I do writing. This project was a labour of love, and the resources available to me via the library have been essential to its completion.
If there is anything I will take away from both the prize and the project, it is that to research is to ultimately be in conversation. This sense of collaboration, of expanding, of building upon the work of another, is integral to the practice of research writing. It is why, through this project, I was able to bridge together the photography of Yucho Chow, the stories of these families, the theory of Michel Foucault, and the efforts of Catherine Clement. There is endless work to be done! And this prize, for me, only motivates me to keep digging, to keep learning.
Q: What are your plans for the future?
“University has taught me that I will always and forever love learning.”
In the upcoming year, I will finish my degree and start applying to law and/or grad school. University has taught me that I will always and forever love learning. Knowing myself and my niche interests, I will likely pursue more degrees in the future. I have also entertained the idea of teaching. I could see myself being an academic, a lawyer, a judge, a professor; the possibilities are endless!
Q: Do you have a favourite research spot at UBC Library?
This is definitely a tie between the third floor of Koerner and the Memorial Room in Woodward. On the one hand, I love the natural light and the views that the long-span glass in Koerner permits. Even when I am buckled down, I can look outside and see that there is still something going on outside my studies. On the other hand, the Memorial Room has that “dark academia” feel to it. I can get cozy with a coffee, play some Vivaldi, and get straight to work on an essay.