In this lecture of our Asia & the Regency series, Dr. Markman Ellis analyzes tea as a multi-faceted concept: a commodity sourced from Asia; a prepared hot beverage; a social event in which tea is consumed; and an ideological construct associated with politeness and the social behaviors of the middling classes. Austen’s fictions cast light on each of these aspects of the performance of tea-taking in Britain, that social ceremony now known as the British ‘way of tea.'

In the final event of our Asia & the Regency series, we learn about Buddhism and what Austen can teach us about the Four Noble Truths with a special talk from Dr. Kathryn Duncan (St. Leo University). Like Buddhism, Austen's novels explore both suffering and happiness. This talk will introduce a unique and novel approach to reading our old Austenian favorites in a new way, which is further explored in Dr. Duncan's new book Jane Austen and the Buddha (2021).

Award-winning author and professor emerita Dr. Karen Tei Yamashita discusses her book Sansei and Sensibility (Coffee House Press 2020). "Sansei" refers to third-generation Japanese Americans whose grandparents typically immigrated to the US in the early twentieth century. Dr. Yamashita discusses her relationship with Austen in the context of her own experiences. Last year, Dr. Yamashita was awarded the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and we are excited to host her for this talk!