Processing Place
The Underground Coffee house is a multifaceted place which provides many services for the student body of Western Washington University. It offers a coffee bar, as does any coffee house, with a variety of drinks to order and flavors to choose from and plenty of seating. The space is quite large, boasting a plethora of sit down options and you may find anywhere from 5 to 45 people in the space on a normal basis. It’s usually less crowded between classes and on weekend day, but fills up during event nights, such as Poetry and Lyric Night or Open mic night. The coffee house has been a part of Western for years and feeds into the idea of “Place as Social Process” as is presented to us by Lynn Staeheli. She writes:
This definition incorporates a rich, complex understanding of how place is constructed and mobilized in politics. It understands place as incorporating physical and social locations, as incorporating the sense of identity-in-place with a sense of identity-of-place, and as both a context for action and the object of action that is continually in the process of being made. (Staeheli 163).
This concept of continual shift in what a place is and who it attracts while creating events that define the location is perfectly suited for The Underground Coffee House. The coffee house does not merely boast a selection of roasts, it provides a place for activism, art, school, and naps if you are lucky enough to snag the nook couch. These events are controlled by the associated student body/government and coincide with the perpetual “flux” of The Underground Coffee House.
Every event held here changes the dynamic of the place, but with repeating events and event selection, this constant shift has become the norm. The coffee house is an evolving place which attracts different kinds of individuals, makes a statement, and develops the place for future patrons. Run by the student government the place lends itself to activism on campus and provides an area to talk about political and social injustices and change the political platform of the school. For example next week there is an Poetry and Lyric Night, that the associated students hope will provide an outlet for “that fosters and encourages the work-shopping and performance of any and all forms of non-prose writing, such as: poetry, spoken word, songwriting, lyricism” (Poets and Lyricist Society). This event is sure to sway political standing on the campus as a whole, through content of work and performance on socio political issues, but will also contribute to the locale politics of the Underground dependent upon the patron’s responses to such an event; and will attract another facet of the WWU student population than say “Hip Hop Trivia”.
Repeating events such as Trivia Night, Open Mic Night, Poetry and Lyric Night, and Western Wednesday Concert Series, etc. all draw in several different types of people. Events draw in trivia nerds, musicians, and poets and creates an individual space for them on a nightly basis.
The events display the ever changing “Identity-of –Place” by the space transforming from a coffee shop, to a place of study, to an events venue and political platform. The different kinds of people and how large of a crowd is displays “Identity-in-place” as people change from students by day to political activist, trivia wizards, and artist by night. Showing the constant shift of identities on the daily basis, the Underground Coffee House provides a perfect example for “place as social process”. And as time continues on and events and patrons cycle through alongside the academic year the coffee house is sure to continue to evolve.
Poets and Lyricist Society
https://orgsync.com/115332/chapter
8887777oj�+�6�