AFCA 287 and CHEM 158 – Bitter Grapes

Four Credits
Four weeks in South Africa
Professors Leslie Wingard Cunningham and Connell Cunningham

Students in these paired courses travel, lodge, and enjoy excursions together; but they adhere to separate four-week course syllabi about the history and chemistry of wine and black cultural studies in South Africa. First, Chemistry students take a winter 2026 laboratory and field work foundations class in Virginia on which they build later when they explore this topic abroad. Students receiving Africana Studies credit focus abroad on connecting South Africa’s black-owned wine farms and black winemakers’ stories to apartheid and other history. Standard chemical analysis techniques are applied by students utilizing the science syllabus -- to understand the complex composition of a variety of wines, the evolution of flavor, and the process of fermentation. Students following the Africana Studies syllabus read black literature, study theater and visual art at museums, and conduct interviews as they learn about black wine brands as a symbol of South Africa’s wine industry transformation. All registrants for Chemistry or Africana Studies credit are also required to work as a group on community-based learning projects with a local non-profit organization.

Program fee: $5,226 (paid to W&L)
Includes: **airfare**, programming, room, fees, in-country transportation, transportation to the airport from W&L, and some meals (breakfast will be included nearly every day, as well ~4 lunches and ~2 dinners).

Additional costs: some meals, SIM cards for cell phone, spending money, inoculation fees, passport, and visa fees.

For further details, please contact Professor Wingard Cunningham or Professor Cunningham.

The information session for this course will take place on October 6, 2025, at 7 pm in Leyburn 119.