Greetings~
We are excited to meet and start tea practice on campus soon!
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be doing several posts to share information and get excited about starting up in the fall. Today, I just want to introduce myself– I’m Dr. Michelle Liu Carriger, an associate professor of Theater & Performance Studies at UCLA in the School of Theater, Film & Television. And I’m also a licensed teacher of Urasenke tradition chado (or “tea ceremony”).
I’ve actually been trying to write this first post for weeks, and haven’t really found a way to describe tea practice that I feel like really captures what it’s all about. Of course, people study tea for a lot of reasons– some of them include art and craft appreciation, zen-related mindfulness cultivation, social interaction, historical and cultural interest– or combinations of these and more. You probably have your own reasons for why you signed up with an interest in checking out the club.
Over the next weeks in the lead up to the start of school, look out for a series of posts with information about different aspects of Chanoyu “tea ceremony” (including a brief post about why I think the term “tea ceremony” is sort of weird!) as well as the first opportunities and events we’re planning. Meanwhile, I’m also happy to field any questions you might have about tea practice and UTeaLA.
Looking forward!
Michelle Liu Carriger
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