Siddarth Sankaran '21 (computer science and economics) and PhD candidate Annie Sheng (anthropology) have each been awarded $250 as co-winners of a student essay contest linked to the Oct. 26-27 conference "Tea High and Low: Elixir, Exploitation, Ecology."
Student attendees were asked to respond to the following questions: How did the discussions at this conference change the way you understand the world of tea? What, if anything, has prompted you to reflect more deeply on the cultural, religious, economic, or ecological aspects of tea as a globally consumed commodity?
Honorable mentions went to Doreen Gui '21 (civil engineering), Bolin Huang '19 (mechanical engineering), and Stephanie Sek '19 (hotel administration).
The multidisciplinary conference was co-organized by Daniel Bass, program manager of the South Asia Program, and associate professor Jane-Marie Law of the Department of Asian Studies.
It was jointly presented by the South Asia Program, East Asia Program, Southeast Asia Program, and Comparative Muslim Societies Program. Principal sponsors were the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future.
Additional support came from the Johnson Museum, Cornell Botanic Gardens, Tata-Cornell Institute, IP-CALS, the Religious Studies Program and the departments of anthropology, Asian studies and history.
This article originally appeared on the Mario Enaudi Center for International Studies website.
