In response to Dan Malleck's request:
        I'm currently teaching a course "A cultural history of alcohol" in
the Honors department at the University of Florida. The course combines
anthropological and historical approaches to drinking. Emphasis is on
traditional uses of alcohol in the developing world. Geoffrey Giles'
"Alcohol in history" course provided a good foundation and would be an
excellent model for any social history of alcohol course. So far, the
cross-cultural perspective has been well received. Although we have not yet
reached the week, Emmanuel Akyeampong's recent social history of drink in
Ghana has already generated some good discussion outside of class. I have
also received positive feedback from students about W. Taylor's Drink,
homocide... and M. Powers Faces along the bar. Many of the readings are
articles from Barrows and Room (unfortunately out-of-print), as well as the
readers from M. Marshall (1979) and M. Everett, J. Waddell, and D. Heath
(1976). The students in the Honors program are at an advanced academic
level and preliminary responses suggest they have embraced the broad
cross-cultural perspective. They are using this course as an opportunity to
explore a broad range of cultural ideas and to examine non-western uses of
alcohol traditionally overlooked.

                                                        Frederick H. Smith




>I'm proposing a course on the history of alcohol, broadly construed (I'll
>narrow it down soon enough) and am looking for decent general histories, or
>collections.  I know of "The changing face of drink" and earlier
>collections ("Alcohol, Reform and Society" for example.. part of my
>personal Jack Blocker library!) but could use a few more suggestions...
>especially something that is accessible for non-historians.
>
>The course I'm proposing is for general students, but especially students
>of viticulture, so wine history would also be useful.
>
>I know similar questions have been asked of this list before, but they were
>a while back, and new material might be available (for example, I seem to
>recall Rod Phillips was talking about developing such a course or text a
>few months ago).  So any suggestions will be appreciated.
>
>Cheers.
>
>Dan Malleck
>================================================================
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>
>"It is not because things are difficult that we do not try them, it is
>because we do not try them that they are difficult."  --Seneca


Frederick H. Smith
University of Florida
Department of Anthropology
1116 Turlington Hall
Gainesville, Fl 32611
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