New “Faculty Tea” Series Keeps Faculty-Student Interaction Robust During the Pandemic

In an effort to ensure continued opportunities for informal faculty and students engagement during COVID lockdown, NYU Shanghai has launched a new series of online “Faculty Teas” where professors lead small group discussions on various topics ranging from food in the Arab world to the aviation industry to the etymology, history, and economics of tea.

“Due to the current changes, faculty miss 'more rewarding moments' of their day, typically including interacting with students by following up on interesting comments made in class through a hallway or office conversation, sharing quick takes on current events when bumping into each other on the train or elevator, and the occasional lengthy bull session in the coffee shop or cafeteria," said Associate Provost for Academic Affairs John Robertson, who came up with the idea. 

Instead of the usual academic lectures, faculty members are invited to conduct casual chats with students on not just their own research, but also current affairs and pop culture. Each session is open to a maximum of eight students to make sure faculty and students can enjoy more meaningful conversations. 

“I think during such challenging times, it is particularly important to connect with our students, to engage with them on a deeper emotional level so that we can feel more positive and less isolated,” said Clinical Assistant Professor of History Wen Shuang who chatted with students via zoom on Friday about one of her research interests – the consumption of bread vs. rice in the Islamic world, and what they revealed about economic development, cultural and religious practices, and human-to-human interactions between the East and the West.

Assistant Professor of Practice in Economics Ilaf Elard kicked off the first Faculty Tea last week with “A Quick Take on Quick Response (QR) Codes: Daily Life FinTech,” a discussion on the technology and economics behind the ubiquitous QR codes. The Faculty Tea series is a great opportunity for students to take an ‘active rest’ that is both socially and intellectually stimulating, Elard said. “Teaching and intellectual discussions with our students in the NYU Shanghai community is a great gift.”

This week, Elard hosted another talk on the etymology, history, and economics behind tea. 

Shaoguang Yang, NYU ’22 is studying away at NYU Shanghai this semester and participated in every Faculty Tea session from her home in Henan province. Though busy taking online classes, Yang said she enjoys attending casual events where students and professors can chat about non-strictly academic related topics. 

“I like these events a lot. … They introduced me to some new aspects of the world that I assumed to be either salient or too complex and sensitive to be discussed before.”

Assistant Professor of Practice in Finance David Yu, an expert in aviation evaluation, took a Question-Answer approach in his session to address anything students might be interested in or curious about the aviation industry. Students raised questions ranging from the impact of COVID-19 on airlines to the cost of a one-way trip for an airline, from the China Eastern Air crash to the employee strike at Alaskan Airlines. 

Aviation enthusiast Chen Liyu ’22, who follows news on the industry and collects plane models, signed up for Yu’s session, hoping to take the opportunity to ask specific questions about his case study project in Yu’s class.

“It was the first Faculty Tea I have ever attended,” Chen said. “The limited number of attendees indeed facilitated a comfortable environment for me to chat with the professor. And since the topic of the talk falls within my interest, I felt that I could use it as a chance to clear my mind, meet people who have the same interest.”

The Faculty Tea series starts from April 1 to May 15. Stay tuned for more upcoming Faculty Tea events.