Mertz Library Humanities

Coffee and Caffeine Cultures

May 1, 2025

12 to 6 p.m. | Library Reading Room

Join us for an interdisciplinary exploration of one of the world’s most powerful plants and its active ingredient—coffee and caffeine. For over six centuries, coffee and other caffeine-rich plants have governed social rituals, economic systems, and even states of consciousness. From their origins in Africa and spread across the Indian Ocean to the Americas and beyond, coffee has influenced material cultures, social hierarchies, labor regimes, and ideas of both productivity and leisure.

This day-long conference brings together humanists and scientists to trace the cultural life of caffeine. Experts in archaeology, ethnobotany, and art history will explore how it is an active agent of cultural and ecological change.

Co-organizers: Amy Chang (Harvard University), Dr. Justin Mann (Dumbarton Oaks), Dr. Lucas Mertehikian (NYBG)

This event is free and open to the public. It is made possible thanks to the generous support of Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. Advanced registration is required.

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  • 12 p.m. — Welcome Remarks, Lucas Mertehikian

    12:10 p.m. — Coffee Project Introduction, Justin Mann and Amy Chang

    12:30 p.m. — Panel 1: Coffee Culture Origins: Africa, the Red Sea, & the Indian Ocean

    • Bula Wayessa, University of Minnesota Twin Cities (Ethiopia coffee archaeology and Oromo ethnography)

    • Michelle Al-Ferzly, Yale-Beinecke Library (Middle Eastern and African Islamic World/Mamluk dining cultures)

    • Prita Meier, NYU-IFA (Swahili Coast & Indian Ocean Trade)

    1:30 p.m. — Panel 1 Q&A, Alex McAlvay, NYBG

    2 p.m. – Coffee Break

    2:30 p.m.—Panel 2: Caffeine Cultivation & Consumption in South & Southeast Asia

    • Neha Vermani, Azim Premji University, India (Mughal culinary and gardening culture)

    • Luthfi Adam, Monash University, Indonesia (Southeast Asian Coffee & Tea History & Production)

    • Romita Ray, Syracuse University (South Asian Tea & Coffee cultures/Coffee Crop Blight)

    3:30 p.m. — Panel I Q & A

    4 p.m. — Coffee Break

    4:30 p.m. — Closing Lecture: Caffeine and Consciousness, Mark Plotkin, The Amazon Conservation Team

    5:30 p.m. — Lecture Q&A, Michael Balick, NYBG

RSVP

Location Library Reading Room

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