Join us in the STUDIO on Wednesday April 23rd at 5:30 PM for a celebration of research from the course “Coffee and Capitalism.”

This event will include works by graduate and undergraduate students, under the instruction of Prof. John Soluri and PhD Candidate of Design and Founder of Ethos Agriculture, Saurin Nanavati.

What role has coffee played in connecting people and places to capitalist markets and consumer cultures? What are the economic, social, and environmental consequences of these connections? How did espresso change from an “ethnic drink” to something served at McDonalds? Why do college students (and professors!) hang out in coffee shops? This course answers these questions and more by using coffee to learn about the history of capitalism, and capitalism to understand the history of coffee. We follow the spread of coffee and capitalism across the globe, with excursions to places where people grow coffee (Ethiopia, Yemen, Indonesia, Brazil, and Costa Rica), and also where they drink coffee (Seattle, Tokyo, Seoul, New York, and Berlin). In the process, we confront global problems linked to economic inequality, trade, gender relations, and environmental degradation.