Monday, May 20, 2019

Coffee Week: The Movie

Well, a very short movie. My colleagues in Continuing Education were as surprised as I was that Coffee Week BSU has not really caught on. We had a few students in 2016 and 2017, but we could not run it in 2018 because we had only one student! So the clever marketing folks in Continuing Education have worked with me to produce this little clip to draw attention to the course. Please share widely, Coffee Achievers!

For registration details, please visit the BSU summer page. For details about the course itself, browse the rest of this blog.

This course may be transferred to other universities. It is offered as a regular undergraduate course with no prereqs, but may also be taken for honors or graduate credit.

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Summer 2019: Coffee Week is Back!

BSU flat mascot BriStaCo poses with honey-
processed coffee in Nicaragua.
The idea of Coffee Week BSU was born as soon as I the new dean of Continuing Education at Bridgewater State announced that summer courses could be taught in a 5x8 format -- five days of eight hours each.

As soon as I heard this, I realized that it would allow a third kind of coffee course. I already teach a travel course -- usually in Nicaragua -- and a speaking-intensive seminar that is open only to BSU second-year students. I have been looking for a way to offer a local summer course, and the 8-hour days give us some outstanding options.

Through my other courses, I have learned about a lot of innovative coffee businesses within reasonable driving distance of the BSU campus in Bridgewater. The 8-hour format allows us to visit several of these each day, including roasters, importers, and fantastically innovative cafés.

We will meet no more than one day in a typical classroom, watching a few coffee-related films. But in order to meet the real experts throughout our region, most of the class meetings will begin and end at a campus parking lot, and we will spend all 8 hours in the BSU Coffee Coach (a campus van).

Coffee Week BSU has no prerequisites. A modest reading list will be provided to enrolled students two weeks before the class begins. The 3-credit course transfers easily to other institutions as GEOG 296 (undergraduate) or GEOG 520 (graduate). Graduate students will prepare additional research papers or lesson plans in the case of educators.

Coffee Week BSU meets 8:30-4:30, August 5-9, 2019
BRIDGEW.EDU/SUMMER