CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois students have until Sept. 15 to register for CHEM 199: Chemistry, Coffee and the Community, an eight-week course and one of two programs funded by the Transdisciplinary Global South Community-Based Learning Program Development Grant, an initiative of the university’s Vision 2030 Global Strategy.
CHEM 199 is a transdisciplinary, community-based learning program that focuses on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and other topics of importance within the coffee community in Panama.
The course will run during the second eight-week period of Fall 2025, beginning with on campus weekly meetings on Oct. 20. There is also an optional short-term education abroad portion that takes place in Panama over the winter break.
A Transdisciplinary Program
This unique program is led by a talented Illinois team of professors and directors from five departments/units on campus: Chemistry, Biology, Food Science and Human Nutrition, and Student Affairs, represented by International Education and La Casa Cultural Latina.
The diversity of offices developing the program and the education-abroad element emphasizes the transdisciplinary nature of the program, a core component of what the Vision 2030 Global Strategy’s grant was designed to do.
Luis Canales, associate provost for Illinois International, explained that by fostering international partnerships with communities in the Global South, the transdisciplinary grant program seeks to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
“Whether it’s a global health crisis or climate change, these problems require collaboration from multiple perspectives,” Canales said. “This grant encourages not only academic collaboration but also deep, sustained mutually beneficial partnerships with the communities where these projects take place.”
The point of the course is to give students the opportunity to learn from and work alongside coffee producers and coffee farm workers directly to understand the different elements that contribute to the development of coffee production in Panama and eventually brainstorm appropriate solutions to problems that arise within that community.
In other words, instead of solving the problem for the coffee producers and farm workers, they’re working alongside them to reach a solution together giving coffee workers a direct say on the matter.
Exploring the World of Coffee
Andino said although the program only runs for half a semester, students will be able to absorb a plethora of information on the drink itself.
He said students will have a solid understanding of the different types of coffee they could prepare, in addition to an overall view on the experimental characteristics of concocting coffee.
Andino also mentioned that they will learn about the physiological effects of coffee, about the biology of the coffee plant and other aspects surrounding the plant, and about the cultural aspects of coffee.
“Then we will look at more specific analysis of coffee to learn more about the molecules present in the drink and other stages of the coffee bean prior to roasting, after roasting, and the different levels of roasting, so that students understand a little more about why the drink tastes the way it does,” Andino said.
By the end of the eight weeks, Andino noted that students will not only have a good understanding of coffee, but they will learn about coffee’s impact on the body and in the end, they will share what they learned about coffee production in Panama.
However, Andino clarified that this is knowledge students will learn in the classroom to help prepare them for the optional study abroad portion.
If students choose to participate in the short-term education abroad element, they will meet with coffee producers and workers and learn the coffee production process from first-hand accounts.
Students will record observations, interview members of the coffee-growing community, and create a strategy for improving processes all while maintaining communication with course participants who did not participate in the travel portion.
In doing so, they will be able to assess aspects such as risks related to climate change on coffee crops and farm working conditions.
Andino reflected on a conversation he shared with colleagues in Brazil who know coffee farmers that have lost everything because of climate change.
“You know, for us, coffee continues to be something that we just… (love). However, realizing that people spend their whole lives working on making this product for us just for us to pay a couple bucks for it...it’s hard for me to wrap my head around,” Andino said. “So, the fact that students will hopefully get that idea and understand and recognize that it’s happening not only in one place in the world, but many other places in the world is beneficial.”
By working directly with coffee farmers and coffee farm workers, Andino hopes students will be able to think of innovative solutions to certain social problems unique to this industry.
“What do you need to be able to understand that there is a problem? You need awareness. The fact that students will learn about this is something that may spark ideas in them that won’t stop at this course but continue in their own life,” Andino explained. “They may be agents of change, which is what you would want to see in the future.”
Overall, the program’s unique approach effectively combines the knowledge and expertise not only from Illinois experts but also from native experts and stakeholders in Panama giving students the full picture behind coffee production in that country.
This is what makes it a truly transdisciplinary program.
“The transdisciplinary grant has this important community relationship building component,” Andino said. “There will be a lot of information that will be discussed with the students from many angles, many disciplines, and so when they go (to Panama), at least they have some familiarity with coffee, with the product, with the drink, with the plant, and to a certain degree with the community.”
James Dalling, one of the faculty leaders on the program, explained that although students will primarily be the ones learning, he and his colleagues will also see things from a fresh perspective.
“I'm a jaded tropical ecologist who, you know, has been tramping around in (the Panama forest) for 35 years and thinks that he's seen everything there is to see,” Dalling said. “But when I go out there with a bunch of students, they're seeing stuff that I've never noticed, and they're pointing out things and connecting things that are just not on my radar at all.”
Dalling praised students, stating that they have a certain youthful excitement and enthusiasm that allows them to see things from a different perspective, something he and Andino hope will happen to students in this program.
“I know that as instructors, we're going to get a lot out of our students for sure,” Dalling said.
Analicia Haynes is the storytelling and social media specialist for Illinois International. She can be reached at ahayn2@illinois.edu.