{"id":160518,"date":"2022-06-09T13:41:45","date_gmt":"2022-06-09T23:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=160518"},"modified":"2022-06-09T13:42:10","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T23:42:10","slug":"professors-fulbright-journey-more-than-just-a-cup-of-tea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2022\/06\/09\/professors-fulbright-journey-more-than-just-a-cup-of-tea\/","title":{"rendered":"Professor\u2019s Fulbright journey more than just a cup of tea"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Hong Jiang participates in tea making in Taiwan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In February 2020, when University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa Department of Geography and Environment<\/a> Associate Professor Hong Jiang<\/strong> first learned she had won a Fulbright U.S. Scholars award for her academic research on tea cultures in Taiwan, she was thrilled. Little did Jiang know then that, due to COVID-19, she wouldn\u2019t be able to start her Fulbright Taiwan program until September 2021.<\/p>\n

It was worth the wait.<\/p>\n

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Associate Professor Hong Jiang (middle) participates in tea making in Taiwan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“There was a year-and-a-half delay for the trip due to the pandemic, and three weeks of quarantine once I arrived in Taiwan,” said Jiang. “But with the postponement, my time on the Fulbright program became even more precious, and I greatly appreciated the opportunity to research, teach and learn.”<\/p>\n

The Fulbright Program offers international educational and cultural exchange for accomplished faculty to pursue important research and professional projects. In Jiang\u2019s case, she sought to study the factors and processes for making oolong tea in Taiwan\u2019s mountainous area—specifically the transformation from tea leaves to processed teas as a culture of taste.<\/p>\n

“I visited the Alishan mountain range in central-southern Taiwan and interviewed tea farmers, tea processors and consumers,” said Jiang, who earned her BS<\/abbr> and MS<\/abbr> at Beijing Normal University, and her MA<\/abbr> and PhD<\/abbr> at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. “I certainly enjoyed my time there and learned a lot.”<\/p>\n

In fall 2022, she will impart some of that knowledge in Geography 432, Tea and Culture. In the meantime, she is seeking opportunities to publish her research with colleagues in Taiwan.<\/p>\n

Related UH<\/abbr> News<\/em> stories:<\/p>\n