When
Where
Join Dr. Christy Spackman, assistant professor at Arizona State University's School for the Future of Innovation in Society, for a discussion of her recent book and continuing work on the production of water as a consumer comestible.
Dr. Spackman will be presenting on Feb. 23 from 1:30-3 p.m. in GWS 100.
If you are interested in participating in a tasting of various water options and products, please send a quick note to Dr. Croissant (jlc@arizona.edu) to confirm your attendance.
There will also be zoom access: https://arizona.zoom.us/j/87558655292
Have you ever wondered why your tap water tastes the way it does? The Taste of Water explores the increasing erasure of tastes from drinking water over the twentieth century. It asks how dramatic changes in municipal water treatment have altered consumers’ awareness of the environment their water comes from. Through examining the development of sensory expertise in the United States and France, this unique history uncovers the foundational role of palatability in shaping Western water treatment processes. By focusing on the relationship between taste and the environment, Christy Spackman shows how efforts to erase unwanted tastes and smells have transformed water into a highly industrialized food product divorced from its origins. The Taste of Water invites readers to question their own assumptions about what water does and should naturally taste like while exposing them to the invisible—but substantial—sensory labor involved in creating tap water.