SOCI 387OC - Serving the Public: Labor & Place in Cafes, Bars, & Restaurants

FC SSCI CD

4 credits
What does it mean for public life to flourish in privately-owned spaces? This course explores the history, impacts, and transformations of restaurants, cafés, and bars. These have been credited with sustaining community and launching revolutions, acclaim that often ignores the everyday reality of these small businesses. We explore their labor conditions, especially for women and immigrants, and the connections between the commodities they sell and histories of colonialism and globalization. The pleasures of being served in public are profound and enrich cities and lives, but they are unequally distributed and their full costs are not always on the bill. Field trip(s) required. Students who take this course as part of the StudiOC learning community Eating in Public: Taste, Place, and Identity must also enroll in CAST 416OC.

Community-Based Learning