Wednesday Talk: October 22, 10am-12pm – hybrid
- This event has passed.
October 22, 2025 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Eric Jennings, History, U of T
Title: “A World History of Vanilla” Introducer: Charles Maurer
Abstract: Open your fridge or pantry, and you’ll likely find vanilla: perhaps a bottle of vanilla essence. Maybe artificial. You probably have vanilla ice cream in the freezer. That everyday substance has a remarkable history, encompassing slavery and the rise of industrial synthetics that produce vanillin from wood pulp derivatives to cow dung!
Bio: Eric Jennings (BA-MA Toronto, 1992, 1993; PhD UC Berkeley 1998) is a French colonial historian and Chair of our Department of History, as well as a fellow at Victoria College and of the Royal Society of Canada. He has held a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and seven SSHRC Standard/ Insight Grants. He is the author of eight books all but one of which he has translated into French himself. His latest is titled: Vanilla: The History of an Extraordinary Bean (Yale University Press, 2025).
The link to register is https://forms.office.com/r/Ws6T1iTWzC
The deadline to register is the Monday before the event at noon. The Zoom link will be sent to registrants only.
