CLHUMHI040 - A History of the World Through Coffeehouses and Teahouses
Coffee and tea have the power to awaken, to soothe, to inspire creativity, introspection and connection. From Turkish coffeehouses and Japanese teahouses to Parisian cafés and Starbucks today, the social rituals and spaces we’ve created to savor coffee and tea are central to our society. Art historian, architect and urbanist Dr. Farshid Emami explores how the places where we commune over coffee and tea provide a lens on human history. This course traces the spread and embrace of these stimulants across the globe from the 16th century onward. We examine the artful “material culture” that arose around coffee and tea from artisanal tea ceremony utensils and artworks to sensuous architectural spaces and bustling cityscapes. We also consider how coffeehouses and teahouses led to new forms of engagement and anchor our social life today. This engaging course culminates with a coffee and tea social with the instructor and course participants.
Course Details
Farshid Emami, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of art history at Rice University. Dr. Emami specializes in the history of architecture, urbanism and the arts in the Islamic lands, focusing on the early modern period and particularly Safavid Iran. Trained as an architect and urban designer, Dr. Emami earned a Ph.D. in the history of art and architecture from Harvard University. At Rice, Dr. Emami teaches survey courses on art history and Islamic art and architecture. He also teaches an undergraduate course on the global history of coffeehouses and teahouses. Dr. Emami has written extensively about the role of coffeehouses and teahouses in shaping urban spaces and the public sphere, including his recently published book, “Isfahan: Architecture and Urban Experience in Early Modern Iran.” Prior to joining Rice, Dr. Emami taught at Oberlin College and was an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
On Campus
This course will be delivered on campus / in person. Parking and room information will be sent prior to the class start date.
- Coffee and coffeehouses in Africa and West Asia (c. 1500–1800): Istanbul, Aleppo and Isfahan
- Coffee and coffeehouses in Europe (c. 1650–1800): Venice, London and Paris
- Tea culture in China and Japanese teahouses (c. 1600–1700)
- Global tea: Middle Eastern and European cultures of tea
- Modern period: From post-19th-century industrialism to today
- Coffee and tea social with instructor and classmates
Department of History, Rice University ; Department of Transnational Asian Studies, Rice University