Black Gold: Coffee, Culture & Global Exchange

Coffee is widely referred to as the world’s second most valuable legal commodity (behind oil) and is probably one of the world’s most consumed legal drugs. Beyond its status as such a massively traded product, coffee is central to the lives of most Americans. We drink coffee with both breakfast and dessert. We consume coffee both to facilitate our work and enhance our leisure. We can buy coffee everywhere—from the grimiest gas station to the most high-end restaurant—and what we are willing to pay for it runs the gamut. Within American communities, coffee has come to epitomize both what is quintessentially “local” (the neighborhood coffee shop) and “corporate” (Starbucks, Dunkin’). For many Americans, coffee shops are now default settings for relaxing with friends, conducting business, studying, creating art, and for even being alone. Yet, where does our coffee come from? Behind this everyday commodity is an intricate, expansive, and frequently exploitative network that connects billions of people across continents, nationalities, ethnicities, languages, currencies, religions, geographies, and economic backgrounds. In this discussion-driven course, we will approach coffee from a variety of economic, social, political, food studies, and human rights angles to consider the extraordinarily complex role that the beverage plays in connecting lives within global culture.

Catalog Information: HON-H 237  LAW AND SOCIETY

GenEd Information: Approved for the Social & Historical Studies requirement of the IU Bloomington General Education program.