Endless Grounds: Coffee's Social, Economic, and Cultural Life

Thurs., July 9-Aug.13, 8-9:30 a.m.

Location: Online

Cost: $70

With Robert Thurston, Emeritus Professor of History, Miami University

Coffee will provide a lively lens on major past and present issues, including climate change, social life, health, global North–South differences, social and economic justice, tourism, and slavery. We will begin “from the ground up,” tracing coffee from planting and processing through shipping and, ultimately, the beverage in our cups -- part of nearly two billion cups consumed daily worldwide. We will explore coffee’s global history and its shift from an elite drink to an everyday staple. Drawing on current research, we will examine coffee and health, as well as practical questions such as how more income might reach farmers and how coffee production might adapt to a changing climate. The instructor will share firsthand experiences from coffee farms around the world, discuss a range of brewing methods, and demonstrate how coffee is brewed. Sessions will be interactive, with time for questions throughout.

This class is open to OLLI members only.

See more summer Osher Online classes!

This Osher Online class will NOT be recorded for future viewing.

Registration opens for OLLI members on May 27. Non-members may register starting May 29.