Course: HIST 429. History of Chocolate: Commodities in World Exchanges (3)
Recommended Preparatory: HIST 301. This course explores the history of chocolate with an emphasis on the impact and meaning that cacao and chocolate have had on societies around the world from pre-Columbian times to the 20th century. Class discussions will focus on the production and consumption of cacao and chocolate as a means to uncover larger historical processes such as indigenous pre-Columbian societies, the Columbian exchange, the expansion of global capitalism, slavery, industrialization, and post-colonialism. From this survey of chocolate in history, students will gain a greater understanding of how a crop has influenced, and is influenced by myriad historical processes.