Chocolate Worlds

Catalog description

This course will examine the "world" of chocolate throughout human history. First cultivated by the ancient peoples of the Americas and then manufactured by Europeans and Pennsylvanians alike, chocolate has played a privileged role as a luxury good. An interdomain course, "Chocolate Worlds" is interdisciplinary, taught by faculty in the departments of Plant Science, Anthropology, and History. As a team we investigate the how diverse societies have differentially interacted with this crop. Rather than be organized chronologically, this course will be divided into course Units, such as the history of cocoa uses and cultivation, cocoa plant science and farming issues, chocolate making and markets, and the state of the global chocolate industry. The course's lectures and assigned readings work in concert equally directed by scientific inquiry and the queries of the social sciences and humanities. Assignments will address real world questions relating to contemporary cocoa cultivation and production, and its role in international development and social justice. As a class we will take field trips to sites such as local chocolate manufacturing facilities and cocoa research sites and laboratories. The learning objectives of this course include students' broad knowledge of cacao production, its history, and ethnical issues surrounding its cultivation in today's global economy. Additionally, students will gain an historical appreciation for the role this crop his played in diverse human societies and a scientific understanding of its genetic structure.