All Posts

“Food In Transit” Interactive Feature with Robert Sung, Culinary Historian


Watch this interactive short teaser of a lecture by Culinary historian Robert Sung. This is a talk in which foodies will take delight. As part of the current exhibition in the Chung Collection room, highlighting historical food menus from the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), Sung’s talk highlights the historical period of the menus in Canadian history.

Please visit: http://www.ikebarberlearningcentre.ubc.ca/robertsung to watch this lecture webcast!


About the Speaker
Bobby Hot Pot color 2-1Robert (Bob) Sung is currently the President of the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia.  A Fourth-­Generation Canadian, Bob has a passion for culinary arts & history. He was educated at the University of Hawaii for Business Administration and at the Dubrulle Culinary Institute for Professional Culinary Training. For over twenty-­‐five years, his personal & business life have revolved around the Food & Hospitality Industry. Bob’s purpose is to educate and entertain from a culinary & cultural approach. In terms of outreach, he is a member of both the Vancouver Chinatown Revitalization Committee, and serves as an advisor to the Asian Heritage Month Society.


UBC Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections teamed up with local historian Larry Wong to create the exhibit. Wong, author of Dim Sum Stories, curated a series of menus for the exhibition, “Bon Voyage / Bon Appétit: Menus from the Canadian Pacific Railway Company’s Ships, Trains, Planes, and Hotels.”

UBC Library’s Chung Collection contains more than 1,000 menus, ranging from the 1890s to 1980s.  The majority of the menus are in English, but there are a few unique menus in Chinese, Japanese, French and even German. Featuring unique historical delicacies, these menus offer a glimpse of “the elegance of dining” in the early days, says Wong.

The exhibition features CPR menus exclusively, but local foodies can also enjoy a few digitized menus from Vancouver’s Chinatown. Six menus are currently online and there are plans to add more over the summer.  The exhibition is currently on display in the Chung Collection exhibition room until the end of 2014.

2016-2017 Art Exhibition Call-Out

2016-17 call-out redo


Calling All Artists

The Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, located at the heart of the beautiful University of British Columbia (UBC), offers an art exhibition space consisting of eight free-standing display cases (6 feet width x 23 inches height x 22 inches depth) with clear Plexiglas lockable covers which houses books, posters, other print material and artifacts.

The art exhibition’s purpose is to encourage student learning, research excellence and community engagement. It serves to inform, educate, entertain, and promote UBC Library’s programs and services in keeping with the University’s mission as one of the world’s leading universities to create an “exceptional learning environment that fosters global citizenship, advances a civil and sustainable society, and supports outstanding research to serve the people of British Columbia, Canada and the world.”

IMG_20150501_122153 IMG_20150619_140530

To see more photos of past exhibitions, visit the Learning Centre’s Facebook page.

The Learning Centre is now welcoming submission proposals for its 2016-2017 Art Exhibition from individuals, groups and organizations within UBC and from the broader community. If you wish to contribute, please apply here by October 15, 2015.

Learning Initiatives for Rural and Northern BC: 2015 – Apply Now!

Learning Initiatives for Rural and Northern BC (LIRN BC) is a collaborative approach to building on the capacities of rural, remote and Northern British Columbian communities. The Irving K. Barber Learning Centre is proud to partner with government and non-government organizations to provide and facilitate workshops to promote community learning and collaboration in rural and northern communities.

The LIRN BC process encourages local government, provincial, federal, First Nations, non-government organizations (community-based, regional and provincial) and businesses to work together to plan, deliver and evaluate a locally relevant learning initiative.

LIRN BC can bring trainers and facilitators to your community to deliver a learning event for residents. The 2015 Expression of Interest (EOI) includes workshop summaries for 21 workshops offered by LIRN BC partner organizations. Select the topic of the event from the choices offered and tell us why this is important in the form below. If your community is selected, you will be contacted by a LIRN BC partner who will work with you to design and deliver a learning event that meets the needs of your community. Successful applicants would be expected to provide publicity support, venue and refreshments.

►The EOI must be received by July 3rd, 2015.

The LIRN BC partners are:

  • Alzheimer Society of BC
  • Association of Neighbourhood Houses of BC
  • BC Centre for Employment Excellence
  • BC Healthy Communities (PlanH Program)
  • Community Social Planning Council (Victoria)
  • Fraser Basin Council (Integrated Community Sustainability Planning)
  • Irving K. Barber Learning Centre UBC
  • Leave Out Violence (LoVE)
  • PeerNetBC
  • SPARC BC
  • Vantage Point
  • Volunteer BC
  • YouthCo

EOI Details:

►The EOI must be received by July 3rd, 2015. Please do not exceed the provided space of the Application Section of the EOI. Follow this link for more information or to download the EOI form.

►Return the Application Section only – pages 15 to 21 of this document – as a Word document by email to jsands@sparc.bc.ca | Jim Sands, Project Coordinator, SPARC BC (Social Planning and Research Council of BC).

►Special Instructions: Please do not exceed the provided space of the Application Section of the EOI. Return the Application Section only – pages 15 to 21 of this document – as a Word document by email to jsands@sparc.bc.ca.

LIRN BC does not provide direct funding or cash. The support offered by LIRN BC generally includes: event planning, workshop and/or dialogue design, facilitation, training, and reporting services that are related to each learning event. The community (through a local steering committee) is expected to help with planning, marketing, providing a venue, and providing catering if needed (this can be through charging admission).

Note: If you have any questions please contact Jim Sands at 604-718-8504 or jsands@sparc.bc.ca

Remote Community Based Learning Fund 2015/2016 Submissions Now Open!

For the 4th consecutive year, The Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and the Centre for Community Engaged Learning are pleased to offer funding to instructors teaching courses that include remote community based experiential learning (CBEL) opportunities for their students. This funding is intended to support collaborations between UBC students and organizations located in communities outside of the Lower Mainland.

Faculty members are invited to apply online for up to $5,000 per course for the 2015/2016 academic year.

For more information, please visit the Student services website or click here for answers to some of the most frequently asked questions on our site.

Apply online today!