The department's faculty and staff offices are located in the Asian Centre of the Vancouver campus.

The Asian Centre building that houses the department consists of the roof and structural framework of the Sanyo Pavilion constructed for the 1970 World Exposition in Osaka, Japan.

[1] The UBC Department of Asian Studies logo is often mistaken to be a lotus flower, with its symbolization of purity, non-attachment and enlightenment in Buddhist tradition.

The design (courtesy of Asian Studies MA student in Japanese Literature and Visual Culture and graphic designer Julien Butterlin) does indeed gesture in this direction, but the flower depicted is in fact that of Camellia sinensis or Thea sinensis, the tea plant whence many teas are derived.

The first category features courses on the contemporary and historical culture of South, Southeast, and East Asia, and do not require knowledge of an Asian language.