Hello one and all, I am very proud to present to you today the next post in The Essential Freshman's Guide series! (Yes, it is now officially a series. Here's the previous one.) Today, I thought I'd bring you through the list of some of the more regular programs that we have in Tembusu. As you might have already noticed, the concept of "Teas" has really taken off in this college.
Two things you need to know about these Teas: most people don't actually drink any tea at these sessions, nor is it always held at teatime... I suppose they were named as such to emulate the casual, open and conversational nature of actual teas. From an attendee's perspective, most of these Teas are essentially the same thing with different structures. Let me explain:
Tembusu Forum
I know this is not a "Tea", but the Tembusu Forum follows the same branch that all the Teas generally stem from. Tembusu Forum is the mother of all Teas, in the sense that it's the biggest and grandest of them all. The Tembusu Forum is a discussion platform, usually between distinguished connections of Prof. K and students. Each guest speaker presents something on a decided topic for about twenty minutes before an open-floor dialogue mediated by Prof. K. begins. On one hand it's meant to provoke thought and discussion among students; meanwhile it gives the college some hype and publicity.
Past Forum topics include the Israel-Palestine debate, post-tsunami/ nuclear disaster Japan, the Holocaust, US-China as superpowers debate and recently, Climate Change. As a side note, the Forums are traditionally held at the MPH and are quite formal. I think some students secretly enjoy the Forums as an excuse to dress up. That's besides the point though.
Master's Tea
These Teas are like baby Tembusu Forums. They are smaller in scale (attendance is capped at thirty) and slightly more casual. Pretty much the same stuff happens, though they are much less topical. Prof. C. and a visitor basically sit and talk about the guest's accomplishments/ experience in his/ her field. These are great if you want to know a bit more about the industries that the guests work in. The college gets all sorts of people to come, so there's usually a good variety. Anyway, after their little chat, students and fellows get to ask heart-burning questions which may or may not get answered properly.
We've been getting a few big names recently, which has started a lot of buzz among the students. Just last week there was a Master's Tea with Dick Lee. This Wednesday it'll be Hossan Leong. Obviously they were overbooked.
The Master's Teas are held in none other but the Master's Lounge. No surprise there.
Fellow's Tea
If you're not getting the pattern yet, this one ought to do it. A Fellow's Tea is a discussion session that is hosted by a Fellow. The same thing happens in the Fellow's Teas as the Master's Teas, just that the guests have much lower profiles. Most often, they are the friends/ interesting contacts of the Fellows who host the Teas. In following the progression, these are even more casual, though they could perhaps cater to a slightly larger audience since they are usually held in the common lounge.
That aside, I'm guessing that these Teas (sometimes Master's Teas as well) are used as induction tests of sorts. I've noticed some researchers who have visited for Teas in the previous semesters are now lecturing in Tembusu, so I'm guessing the college might use the Fellow's Tea to test students' responses. It's a hunch, but not a very strong one.
Work-In-Progress
Okay, so when a researcher/ professor joins Tembusu as a Fellow, Teas about their work get called Work-in-Progress. It's basically a chance for the Fellow to present his current (sometimes past) research work so students have a sense of their secret lives in the lab.
Student's Tea
This was a novel initiative that started last semester where students with interesting backgrounds/ non-academic pursuits are invited for an open dialogue. (You getting it now?) There has only been one of these Tea sessions so far, so it hasn't quite reached a steady-state yet. I'm not sure if there's ever going to be another one of these even, but I thought it was interesting enough to warrant a mention.
Welcome Tea
This is the most deviant of Teas. Most Teas span around the mid-afternoon to early evenings (which is somewhat arguably "teatime"), but these Teas happen to happen most often at night.
In fact, if not for the "Tea" in its name, it probably could be completely excluded from this list. Welcome Teas don't often have the aim of exposing students/ discussion like the other Teas. Rather, it's starting to become the means for Interest Groups to recruit/ induct new members. I haven't actually been to a Welcome Tea myself, and like the Student's Tea, I suppose it doesn't have the same kind of consistency as the other Teas. Regardless, it's something worth watching out for. Evidently, this concept of Teas is quickly being appropriated by students and becoming a feature of the Tembusu culture.
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