Course covers chemistry in real life

From analyzing the organic chemistry of something as simple as bread, to explaining the forensic chemistry of cultural heritage objects, Chemistry for Connoisseurs — a new seminar-style chemistry course taught by Professor John Tovar — exposes freshmen and sophomores to real-world applications of organic chemistry and teaches them about scientific communication.

According to Tovar, students in the course will explore the chemistries of the finer things in life.

They will later select topics for an oral presentation, which will focus on the physical and chemical properties of products in fields ranging from material sciences to drug delivery systems. The presentations are anticipated to occur at the end of the semester.

“Any lecture class you take is dominated by the interests or biases of the person teaching it, but this course gives students the chance to bring their own interests and biases to the table and inform the rest of the group,” Tovar said.

Tovar, interested in showcasing how organic chemistry is being applied in non-traditional ways outside of the typical classroom setting, created this course in order to provide students with a broader perspective on the materials they interact with on a daily basis.

“Since this is the first time I’ve designed this, I wanted something that could connect with a wide body of fairly science-literate undergrads who have taken organic chemistry, but not at the level of a senior seminar,” Tovar said.

Freshman Kelsey Harper, who plans to double major in Chemistry and Global Environmental Change and Sustainability (GECS), took organic chemistry in the fall and decided to sign up for Chemistry for Connoisseurs after she received an email from Tovar that promoted the new course.

So far, the class has related to her interests in both sustainable material development and food science.

“I’m just really excited to learn more,” Harper said. “Since I’m considering going into a field that relates to all of this, I think that if I like the material in this context, I might actually like it later on when I’m looking for a career.”

Sara Cohen, a sophomore majoring in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, is interested in learning more about how chemistry is applied.

“I have realized that ChemBE does not involve as many chemistry classes as I thought it would,” Cohen said. “Most other hard science classes do not see factories where chemicals are being produced, and we may go to the McCormick factory and get to see how taste perception, a topic we will be studying, affects how food is made.”

Tovar, who has worked at Hopkins for nine years, has been communicating with the Sheridan Libraries, the Hopkins Archeological Museum and the Walters Art Museum. He is seeking out Baltimore experts who work in the textile industry at companies like Under Armour, who could potentially be guest speakers for the class.

“If you’re at all interested in biochemistry, materials science, food science, nutrition and a large number of fields, this class gives you good exposure of new topics [and] ideas and potentially where you could take them as well,” Harper said. “You get a specificity from the class that you don’t really see anywhere else. It’s a very small class, so it’s going to be very interesting and informative because we get to direct what we learn to a certain extent.”

According to Tovar, Chemistry for Connoisseurs, which now has five students, will not necessarily be offered next year. Part of his doubt as to whether the course will continue as a Chemistry Department offering has to do with the current low enrollment in the course.

“It remains to be seen if this class will be offered in the future. With the [small] size of our department, we aren’t always at liberty to offer so many special topics course at the extent of our core course coverage,” Tovar said. “The intention would be for the class to continue next year.”