VAHMSconnections AGM Special with Shahid Abrar ul-Hassan, Chair of the program, and Sinologist and VAHMS Advisor, Dr. Jan Walls.
Jan W. Walls is a Professor Emeritus in the Humanities Department at Simon Fraser University, where he was Founding Director of the David Lam Centre for International Communication and the undergraduate Asia-Canada Program. In addition to teaching at Aichi University in Japan, the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University, he also served as First Secretary for Cultural and Scientific Affairs at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing (1981-83), and Senior Vice-President of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (1985-87).
He has published many translations of traditional Chinese poetry and prose. He is currently a Director of the Canadian Society for Asian Arts, and serves as Honorary Advisor to the Chinese Canadian Writers Association, the Chinese Canadian Artists Federation of Vancouver, the International Arts Gallery, and other non-profit cultural organizations.
He has been a trustee on the board of the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden Society, a director on the board of S.U.C.C.E.S.S., Co-President of the Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society, and a member of the Government of British Columbia’s Multicultural Advisory Council. In 1992 he was awarded the Confederation Medal, and in 2012 the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, honoring Canadians who have made a significant contribution to their fellow citizens, to their community or to Canada.
Shahid has been working as a language educator and researcher in multiple roles. He currently works as a professor of language education in Vancouver, BC. He has previously taught at the University of British Columbia and the University of the Fraser Valley. He also serves as a subject expert with BC Ministry of Advanced Education. Moreover, he is an affiliate faculty at public universities in China and the USA. He has also performed several key leadership roles with international professional associations of English language educators in the USA and Korea. He was honored with an Alumni Achievement Award by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, CA, USA, his alma mater.