One of the most popular drinks in the world, following only water and tea, beer in its many forms has shaped the history of civilizations around the globe from ancient Africa, Near East, Asia, the Americas, and Europe up to the present day. In this course students will learn about the origins of beer, and its impact on the social, religious, political, governmental, environmental, and economic practices of peoples across the world over the past 5,000 years. Among the topics considered in this course are beer’s impact on gender identities and relationships, the connection between beer drinking and ethnic identification, the importance of beer consumption to social and class identity, as well as how beer spurred industrialization, labor specialization, the history of markets, colonialism, and the globalization.