Antoine Lavoisier (1734-1794), who is generally considered to be the father of modern chemistry, was not a “professional” chemist. He was a French nobleman and member of the Ferme Générale, pre-Revolutionary France’s version of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Lavoisier did spend a considerable portion of his income on his beloved hobby, chemistry. Would you purchase quantities of diamonds just to burn them in a solar furnace during combustion experiments?! His controlled approach to every activity, which we know as the scientific method (careful observation, quantitative measurements and hypothesis testing) enabled him to discover oxygen, overthrow accepted scientific theories, and collect the Royal taxes & duties very, very well. A course in General Chemistry contains fundamental concepts of analytical, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry to be sure, but more importantly it teaches these same approaches and perspectives that transcend purely scientific problem-solving. Hopefully exposure to these ideas as one aspect of your Liberal Arts education will empower you to be just as successful as Lavoisier…but without getting yourself guillotined. Nobody likes the taxman!
General Chemistry – CH 105 Todd Hopkins
“The world today is made, it is powered by science; and for any man to abdicate an interest in science is to walk with open eyes toward slavery.” -- J. Bronowski
This course is an introduction to the science of chemistry, and part of a liberal arts education at Butler University. In this course, we will think analytically, solve problems, and learn a framework of guidelines and principles that we can use to explain a wide range of natural phenomena (of a chemical nature). We will explore numerous topics including the nature of chemical reactions, the electronic structure of atoms and molecules, and the properties of gases. Many of the laws, theories and principles that we will be discussing are considered to be among the great intellectual achievements of the 19 th and 20 th centuries.
General Chemistry – CH 105 Joe Kirsch
The subject of chemistry is part of the Liberal Arts and Sciences, so our course needs to support also the notions of liberal education. For our course that will include critical thinking, scientific inquiry, quantitative thinking, and problems solving. The methods used in learning chemistry and solving chemical problems are extendable beyond chemistry. I don’t mean to be corny, but I will suggest that the lessons of chemistry are related to the lessons of a life of continual learning. OK, it is a bit corny. In chemistry, we will certainly learn standard methods for solving standard problems, the so called algorithmic methods. While you will need to learn the standard methods, it is also expected that you look beyond the mechanical methods and ask what does it mean and how can it be applied to other situations. At this point, these notions may seem a bit abstract, but they will be played out in the learning of chemistry and the associated laboratory experiences.
General Chemistry 1 – CH 105 Stacy O'Reilly
OBJECTIVES and ROLE IN THE LIBERAL ARTS:
CH105 is the first part of a two-course sequence (CH105 & CH106) meant to provide an introduction to the study of the structure, composition and properties of materials primarily at the microscopic level. The sequence serves as a foundation for chemistry, biology, and pre-health science majors as well as others interested in the study of science. It will explore the language, tools, and methods of chemistry. We will work to develop critical thinking skills to solve a variety of problems and to understand if answers “make sense” in the physical world.
General Chemistry – CH105 Robert A. Pribush
Chemistry 105 is entitled General Chemistry because its contents include fundamental concepts that provide the foundation knowledge for the five major areas of chemistry: analytical, biochemical, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry. Although there is no formal prerequisite for the course, it is generally assumed that each student will have completed at least one year of high school chemistry. Typically 50-60% of the students in this class plan to major in pharmacy and 30-40% are premedical, biology or chemistry majors; hence, the course is quite rigorous, providing the foundation for much of the coursework to be taken by the typical CH 105 student in later years. Non-science majors may prefer to take CH 101 (Introductory Chemistry). Students with extraordinary high school chemistry backgrounds may test into CH 107, which is a one-semester, accelerated General Chemistry course.
It might be tempting to consider general chemistry as merely a “professional training” course because there are laboratory and computational skills that must be mastered, and a degree in chemistry provides numerous employment opportunities. However, the inherent value of this course is the contribution it makes to your liberal arts education. In this course rote memorization will be discouraged with emphasis placed on a conceptual understanding of principles on macroscopic and atomic levels and the manner in which these principles are expressed symbolically. You will learn how a chemist is able to use various tools to understand phenomena on an atomic level, which helps develop visualization skills. These visualization skills not only will enable you to better comprehend physical and chemical changes for which we currently have explanations, but they will free your imagination to contemplate things that currently do not exist, so that someday perhaps you might be the designer of a new drug for combating malaria or an alternative fuel to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels that are found primarily on foreign soil.
Frequent references will be made to the manner in which chemistry is or could be applied to solve problems in fields as diverse as medicine, forensic science, and art. You will be encouraged to discover how chemistry affects you daily. Moreover, you will be asked to consider the ethical and moral implications of the use of chemicals.
Laboratory exercises generally will be inquiry based. A problem will be presented, and you will develop an appropriate analytical methodology for its solution. You will identify the necessary equipment and amounts of materials required to perform your experiment, analyze your experimental results to determine whether the results are logical, and suggest refinements to your procedure.
In the laboratory you will work as a member of a cooperative-learning group in which each of you will have equal time to provide input into problem solving and methods development exercises. Each group will reach one conclusion that will be shared with the class by one member of the group. The reporting responsibility will rotate among the group members. Also, each member of the group is responsible for submitting his/her individual concise lab report using the rich symbolic language of chemistry and mathematics.
The ultimate course goal is for you to acquire the skills and confidence that you will be able to apply the knowledge and problem-solving skills derived in this course to solve problems that you will face in unfamiliar situations. Indeed, in your lifetime you will be called upon to solve problems that we cannot even begin to imagine today!
In a visit to the recently reopened National Portrait Gallery and the Museum of American Art in Washington, DC, I saw a number of quotations by artists and others that strike me as appropriate to the value of a liberal arts education as experienced in this course:
I look at nature, I see myself. Paintings are mirrors, so is nature.
Arthur Dove
Being inexhaustible, life and nature are a constant stimulus for a creative mind.
Hans Hofmann
Where there is an open mind, there will always be a frontier.
Charles Kettering
Chemistry provides an atomic-level understanding of nature. By the end of this course I contend that you will better understand yourself and your world, be more creative and open-minded, and be more capable of opening new frontiers.
Democracy is based upon the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people.
Harry Emerson Fosdick
If you are willing to embrace the concept of life-long learning and employ a decent work ethic throughout your life journey, I believe that extraordinary possibilities reside in each one of you. This course is one step in that journey – come with me!
Analytical Chemistry – CH 321 Michael Samide
Can analytical chemistry really be considered part of a liberal arts education? Isn’t it more of a skills class specific to the discipline of chemical analysis? Well, certainly there are aspects of the course that are very skills oriented. Examples of this are titration techniques and indicator selection, sample preparation, and quantitation. But really analytical chemistry isn’t just about mastering techniques in order to complete a task...its not just technical training or following a recipe (put peg A into slot B). In addition to problem solving and critical thinking skills, analytical chemistry teaches one how to bridge various disciplines – environmental, biological, political, etc. – in order to discover how a system might work or what ramifications a process might have on other systems. Plus, there is a certain logical pattern of thinking that one learns from analytical chemistry that can apply to all areas of learning. So enjoy analytical chemistry and don’t be afraid to dive into the subject and ask questions beginning with “What” and “How” and “Why”. And don’t be afraid to bring what you’ve learned in your other classes to CH321. The more we talk and discuss, the more we’ll learn.
Organic Chemistry I – CH 351 John Esteb
In this course we will focus on a great deal of content, teaching the foundations as to how we as scientists talk about organic structures, reactions, and mechanisms; however, as a course in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, we will go beyond the simple memorization of facts. We will focus on developing your ability to think critically and to engage in scientific inquiry, quantitative thinking, and problem solving. These tools, developed through the learning of organic chemistry, will be applicable to your everyday life and to any of your chosen careers. As students in this course, you will learn a new way to think about systems and how they work. You will learn how to apply your understanding to systems that are entirely new to you.
Organic Chemistry – CH 351 LuAnne McNulty
There are far more connections between the study of organic chemistry and other courses within the college of liberal arts and sciences than may at first appear obvious. Our lives are predicated on the ability to communicate ideas through oral and verbal language. Organic chemistry is like a foreign language in that the traditional language, English, is replaced by an alternate vocabulary. The vocabulary of organic chemistry is based on structure and the communication of ideas occurs through the use of these structures. It is a very beautiful, yet nonverbal, language. As such, learning to speak the language of organic chemistry demands that we approach communication in a different manner, forcing us to appreciate the different ways that disciplines speak. I find the vocabulary of organic chemistry beautiful. An artist friend of mine once asked me to draw some structures for her that she could use as inspiration for her art. What we are teaching as faculty in a Liberal arts and sciences college is both the relatedness of seemingly diverse thought and an appreciation of each of those diverse disciplines. The way in which we think is shaped by our primary discipline, but the ideas (critical thinking, problem solving, etc.) are not unique. Our ideas will be single reactions, how they relate is a map that gives us a vision of how things are created on a molecular scale, which is the relationship between understanding the big picture of organic chemistry and understanding how one views most other disciplines.
Organic Chemistry – CH 351 Paul Morgan
Organic Chemistry in a Liberal Arts and Sciences Environment: While the principle purpose of this course is the preparation of a student for a future career and/or learning in the chemical, biological and medicinal sciences (among other fields), this course requires you to attempt to develop skills which can reach across the curriculum. This course is unique in that you will need to integrate within one disciple many skills, which, until now, may not have been required to accomplish a single academic task. These skills include analytical and critical thinking, the ability to form a conceptual model (imagine) of physical phenomena that are not observable (e.g. atomic and molecular orbitals, molecular shape, chemical reactions), and the ability to apply information learned within classroom setting to a laboratory setting. These skills require reasoning, creativity and problem solving skills that will benefit a student in any discipline. In addition, your ability to communicate the results of these endeavors will be assessed.
Organic Chemistry – CH 351 Anne Wilson
Many courses in the liberal arts speak to “critical thinking skills.” Organic chemistry takes that a step further and teaches a specific critical thinking paradigm. Successful students will learn a new way to think about systems, how they work, and use them both in the laboratory and through directed problem solving activities. Creatively engaging in complex problem solving will be rewarded, as there are often multiple correct answers. By the end of the two-semester sequence, the emphasis will be on the process of thinking, not only obtaining the correct answer.
Inorganic chemistry covers all areas of chemistry not relegated to another division. It incorporates the chemistry of all elements including carbon. Because of the vast array of reactivity, we will try to learn some tricks to predict behavior. We will primarily focus on the transition metals.
Role in the Liberal Arts
This is one of my favorite courses to teach. First of all, many students take this course at the same time as physical chemistry. That makes this class seem like a stroll in a lovely, luscious garden. The second reason I love this course is an odd thing about my approach. We too often forget that most of what we have experienced in science are theories, not scientific laws, nor direct evidence. We are taught what others have theorized from the evidence. Usually we accept the theories as truth, not to be questioned. It is my goal in this course to help you to question some of your core beliefs on chemical bonding. Which leads me to how I believe this course relates to a Liberal Arts education, do you have theories (ideas / calculations / suppositions / beliefs) that you do not question? Why not? Can you use a theory that you know is not completely correct and still do ³good science²?
Bio-Organic Chemistry – CH 461 Geoff Hoops
The content of this course is a chemistry-based approach to understanding the basic structure, nomenclature, reactivity, and biological function of biomolecules – including carbohydrates, nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids. Other fundamental chemical concepts, such as chemical equilibria, thermodynamics, kinetics (uncatalyzed versus catalyzed), stereochemistry, conformation, and chemical mechanism will also be examined within a biological context.
On the surface, this course is content-driven, a necessity dictated at least partially by external expectations for a "biochemical" education by educational bodies such as the American Chemical Society. Your success in this course will indeed be partially dependant upon mastery of this content. However, as a component of a liberal arts education, this course will require you to step beyond the pure memorization of "facts" (be they chemical structures, nomenclature, or classifications of biologically relevant molecules) and apply your chemical knowledge, including that acquired through previous study, to analyze both qualitative and quantitative data, solve complex problems, and critically examine the scientific community's consensus understanding of the molecular basis for life. I hope that you will also come to appreciate the complex beauty of the chemical design of Life as we currently understand it.