As part of MIT’s Global Architectural History Teaching Collaborative with an Emerging Scholars Grant I recently completed the now-live teaching module, “Taverns and Temples: A Global Architectural History.” This module of four lectures traces the introduction and dissemination of alcoholic substances (beer, wine, spirits) and the spaces of consumption and production across the globe and offers a history of related architectural types (breweries, wineries, taverns, temples, etc.) and how they have changed over time. In addition, they examine the cultural and social factors of the rituals of brewing, feasting, and imbibing and how they connect people in spite of geographical distance. From ancient Mesopotamia and China to Incan chicha and American craft beer, these lectures (with supported teaching materials) offer a truly global look at the production and consumption of beer and other forms of alcohol.
The Travels and Discoveries of a Beer Historian
