fullscreen background
Skip to main content

Winter Quarter

Winter Registration Now Open
Most Classes Begin Jan 13
shopping cart icon0

Courses


« Back to Liberal Arts & Sciences

HIS 177 — The History of Wine

Quarter: Winter
Instructor(s): Patrick Hunt
Duration: 8 weeks
Location: Online
Date(s): Jan 15—Mar 5
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Wednesdays
 
Class Meeting Time: 7:00—8:50 pm (PT)
Tuition: $465
   
Refund Deadline: Jan 17
 
Unit(s): 1
   
Status: Open
 
Quarter: Winter
Day: Wednesdays
Duration: 8 weeks
Time: 7:00—8:50 pm (PT)
Date(s): Jan 15—Mar 5
Unit(s): 1
Location: Online
 
Tuition: $465
 
Refund Deadline: Jan 17
 
Instructor(s): Patrick Hunt
 
Recording Available: Yes
 
Status: Open
 
Viticulture has traditionally been closely connected with the development of Western culture. Archaeological evidence shows that wine became a social force in the Celtic world when chiefs gained greater status by offering imported wine to their warriors. We also know that Plato’s Symposium connected wine to philosophizing, and the cultural work of bards, poets, dancers, and musicians was often accompanied by wine rituals. Archaeology now also confirms the locus of wine origins around the Caucasus and Armenia, as hinted in The Epic of Gilgamesh and the biblical story of Noah.

In this course, we will broadly cover the beginnings of wine in the Neolithic Near East, the Greek and Roman contributions, the French wines—including champagne—over at least a millennium, and California viticulture over the past several centuries. Drawing on science, history, literature, and art, we will explore and examine the locales and differences of major global wine varietals.

PATRICK HUNT
Former Director, Stanford Alpine Archaeology Project; Research Associate, Archeoethnobotany, Institute of EthnoMedicine

Patrick Hunt is the author of 26 books and is a lecturer for the Archaeological Institute of America. He received a PhD from the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. Hunt is an elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers Club, and he is an explorer and expeditions expert for National Geographic. His Alps research has been sponsored by the National Geographic Expeditions Council.

Textbooks for this course:

(Required) Patrick Hunt, Wine Journeys: Myth & HIstory (ISBN 978-1626610644)