The Art of Dwelling: Tea, Attention, and Intercultural Co-Presence is a Public Humanities initiative at Duke Kunshan University exploring how everyday practices of tea sharing can deepen attention, foster intercultural understanding, and invite new ways of being together.
Rather than treating tea simply as a cultural tradition or an object of study, the project approaches it as an experiential medium through which participants are encouraged to slow down, engage their senses, and reflect on what it means to be present with others in today’s fast-paced academic environment. Bringing together perspectives from public humanities, education, and intercultural studies, the initiative considers how ordinary acts of hospitality and tea sharing can cultivate reflection, dialogue, and embodied forms of learning. In doing so, the project explores tea not only as a cultural practice, but also as a way of rethinking attention, presence, and human connection in contemporary university life.
The project brings together students, faculty, invited scholars, tea practitioners, and members of the wider community through public humanities programming centered on tea, attention, and intercultural dialogue. Through exhibitions, public talks, and collaborative activities, the initiative encourages participants to engage across cultural differences, cultivate more attentive ways of being together, and reflect on how shared experiences shape the ways we perceive, relate to, and dwell with one another.
