Chocolate-filled class studies culture, history

For more than nine-tenths of its history, people only consumed chocolate as a drink, said IU anthropology professor Anya Peterson Royce. Chocolate was not something people ate until the middle of the 19th century.\nMore than 100 IU students are enrolled in both the College of Arts and Sciences' E104 and S104 classes, titled "Chocolate: Food of the Gods." The class studies the history of chocolate and how it has affected humans by looking at the social aspect of it, its preparation, its romantic aspects, the fine arts of chocolate, major producers of it and the psychopharmacology of chocolate.\nRoyce, the class's instructor, has done research in Mexico about chocolate in the country's culture.\n"Chocolate is a key element in how people celebrate and remember death (in Mexico)," Royce said. "Chocolate is offered to the person who has died but also to the women who come to mourn and pray. It continues to be a really important element in what they do."\nThe course grade is composed of three parts: attendance and participation, one research project and two short field study projects. \n"My favorite part has been learning about different ways chocolate is processed around the world," freshman Jenna Gerber said. "I am excited to learn about the different ways chocolate is advertised and marketed, as well as talking about chocolate as an aphrodisiac."\nFreshman Kristen Monkhouse said she finds it difficult to attend class without getting chocolate cravings.\n"We spend the whole time talking about chocolate," Monkhouse said. "She (Royce) talks about making the drink and the froth. Also, when we watch movies, I'm just like, 'Oh my God, I want chocolate.'"\nThough the class gets to sample chocolate and work with local chocolate makers, students mainly study the production and cultural impact of chocolate.\n"Chocolate is interesting because it's one of those things, like coffee, sugar or salt, that you can talk about and you can see the economics, the politics, the culture and the arts of the world," Royce said. "You follow that commodity around, so that's what makes it interesting."\nThe students are required to participate in one event during Bloomington's Week of Chocolate, which took place last week.\nThe class requires students to branch out into cultures they otherwise might have never known existed.\n"I want them to be able to see what matters to people, what they believe and how something like chocolate fits in to their lives to tell us something about the world," Royce said.\nRoyce said chocolate is important to many cultures and different types of people.\n"There's almost nothing that you can ask about how people behave and think that doesn't have something to do with chocolate," she said.