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


ID : 2154   

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Coffee provides 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.
 
YOUR INSTRUCTOR: Robert Thurston, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of History at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio). He earned a BA in History from Northwestern University and a PhD in modern Russian history from the University of Michigan. His writing spans twentieth-century Russian/Soviet history, witch hunts (Europe and Salem), the body in the Anglosphere (1880–1920), and coffee as an economic and social force. A devoted coffee educator, he has opened a roastery and coffee shop and has visited coffee farms from Asia to South America.


 




 

Class Details

6 Session(s)
Weekly - Thu

Location
OSHER ONLINE

Instructor
Osher Online Faculty 

Tuition: 

$55.00


Registration Closes On
Monday, June 29, 2026 @ 12:00 AM

Schedule Information

Date(s) Class Days Times Location Instructor(s) Instructional Method
7/9/2026 - 8/13/2026 Weekly - Thu 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM Osher Online, OSHER ONLINE  Map Osher Online Faculty  Osher Online