Image: UFV / Provided / Dr. Jatinder Mann with Dr. Satwinder Bains. Mann is the new Director of the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley, succeeding the recently retired Bains.

By Alyssa Conti

NEW STAFF

UFV welcomes new South Asian Studies Institute director

Sep 21, 2025 | 2:09 PM

ABBOTSFORD — The University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) has introduced a new director for its South Asian research department in Abbotsford.

Dr. Jatinder Mann comes to campus from the United Kingdom with an extensive list of credentials, including a PhD from the University of Sydney in Australia and a Master of Laws degree from the University of Reading, where he was also a visiting research fellow.

“When I saw the position advertised, it seemed like a great fit for me,” Mann noted. “I am very impressed by how much Satwinder and SASI have achieved in its first two decades.”

His predecessor, Dr. Satwinder Bains, retired in August, but Mann hopes to continue the work of the South Asian Studies Institute (SASI) while launching new initiatives and building relationships.

“It’s great to see an institute like SASI doing important work in building archives for the South Asian community in Canada and collecting oral histories. These are living treasures that we will keep going,” he said.

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Mann’s current research project revolves around the ‘Transnational Identities of the Global South Asian Diaspora in Australia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand, and South Africa, 1900s–1940s’.

After that, he’s looking to research international family connections, drawing from his own experience as a U.K.-born and raised person of Punjabi descent.

He’s set to present a free, public lecture about his background and vision for SASI on Thursday, October 2, in room K180 at the UFV Abbotsford campus.