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| BSU flat mascot BriStaCo poses with honey- processed coffee in Nicaragua. |
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.
