To suggest that tea is merely something to drink seems somewhat superficial. After all, tea has been found at the center of diplomatic negotiations, rebellions, and national economies. It contains high antioxidant content, cholesterol-lowering flavonoids, and anti-anxiety properties, among other benefits. On this episode of Minds Over Matters, we are joined by Katharine Burnett, director of the Global Tea Institute, for a conversation on the scope of tea’s impact and its current resurgence in U.S. culture.

Bio: Katharine Burnett’s research explores China’s historical art theory and criticism, art and politics, art collecting and display, and the international spread of visual and material culture relating to the global tea trade. 

Publications:

• Shaping Chinese Art History: Pang Yuanji and His Painting Collection, Amherst, NY: Cambria Press, 2020.

• Dimensions of Originality: Essays on Seventeenth-Century Chinese Art Theory and Criticism, Chinese University Press, Hong Kong, 2013.

• Naibin Jiang, trans.《明清中国艺术：十七世纪中国艺术理论与批评》, Chinese translation of Dimensions of Originality: Essays on Seventeenth-Century Chinese Art Theory and Criticism, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Academy of Comparative Civilization and Intercultural Communication and Da Xiang Publish House, forthcoming.

• Kuiyi Shen, Book series editor: Shaping Chinese Art History: Pang Yuanji and His Painting Collection, China, forthcoming.