Cha-Tea Circle is a podcast series on Asian American spiritualities hosted by Chanhee Heo, Chenxing Han, Elaine Lai, and Xianfeng Shi. This series features interviews and soundscapes of people and places across the Asian North American diaspora. Join the hosts with your favorite tea and listen in on soundscapes from places of spiritual refuge as well as in-depth conversations with an inspiring gathering of artists, educators, healers, and superheroes (anti-heroes too!).
This project explores the intersection of Asian and Asian American epistemic collision/negotiation/resistance and religious practice/community. By attending to multisensory perceptions and experiences and bringing creative attunement to Asian and Asian American religious spaces, Cha-Tea Circle unsettles western-centered epistemologies and modes of knowledge production.
Project Team
Chanhee Heo is a PhD candidate in American Religions and US History at Stanford University. Her research interests include American religions in a global context, racial identity formation, inter-imperial relations in the Pacific, and Asian American History. As an enthusiastic dog mom, she enjoys exploring nature with her dog while sipping on an oolong (soy) milk tea.
Chenxing Han‘s work explores the possibilities that emerge at the intersections of Buddhism, Asian America, chaplaincy / spiritual care, and literature / creative expression. She’s the author of Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists and one long listening: a memoir of grief, friendship, and spiritual care. She’s a fan of (soy)milky rooibos and hojicha lattes.
Elaine Lai is a Lecturer at Stanford University. She recently received her PhD in Religious Studies from Stanford University, with a specialization in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. Elaine is interested in cultivating alternative temporal sensibilities through story and language. This is reflected in her dissertation work, multiple screenplays, and technology projects. Elaine’s favorite teas are strong and dark like her.
