edited by: ALBERT KIRSCH Boston University Boston. Mas~achusstts02215
The Role of the Humanities in the Teaching of Chemistry Dominick A. Labianca Brooklyn College of The City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY 11210 When I first faced the task of teaching chemistry to nonscience majors in 1972, I thought that the assignment would not be very exacting-certainly less exacting than teaching chemistry to majors. I soon realized that this type of teaching assignment is quite difficult and that the main difficulty is the subiect itself: ;hemistry simply intimidates many nonscience maiors. These students usually view chemistry as an alien woild that is insensitive to their needs and that cannot ~ o s ~-~~~ sihly he relevant to their academic experiences. They would opt not to he in the chemistry classroom if they had anything to say about the matter. Unfortunately, another factor that contributes to the barrier between nonscience majors and chemistry is a lack of commitment on the part of some of the chemistry teachers who teach these students. Obviously, the barrier is not limited to chemistry but applies to all the sciences. In this regard, a salient point has been made in a recent report of a National Research Council committee ( I ) : ". . . teaching the nonscience majors remains the science department's unwanted chore too often." Yet the chemistry course for nonscience majors is likely to become more, rather than less, firmly entrenched in therequirements of higher education. In a world where chemical developments have impact on almost every aspect of society, the of such a reauirement would sienificantlv limit ~ - nhsence ~ " the general education of nonscience majors and would thus contribute to a citizenry that is not as well informed as it should he, since, (2): ". . . there are students who while not scientists will have to deal soecificallv with scientific and technical issues in their prof&sious, thk [National Research Council1 committee [referred to oreviouslvl -.observed,. .oointinafor examples to journalism, law, and the ministry." How. then. can we as teachers of chemistrv make what is, perhaps, the only chemistry course that our nonscience majors will take an exoerience that is simultaneousl~challenginp, meaningful, and pleasant? My response is based on a Lontraditional concept, namely the integration of chemistry with the humanities. This approach has worked well for me for ten years and employs as its fundamental premise the fact that the humanities &e a rich source of material that can exemplify ~~~~~~
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Editor's Note: Dominick Labianca. whose work has been ~ublished
n fhlr feature oelore (mls .o.,aha. 59. 843 !198211, here exp ores n a mare genera *ay me merhoar of 4s ng the n m a n t es to teach chemtsoy, especm if lo more slmcntr who see sc ence as a e n totnem Since these students are usually more comfortable with novels and magaines, why not use these to "hwk" lhem into chemisby7 Labianca describes a variety of ways it can be done: those of us who like this approach will find plenty to choose from here. This paper i s a modified version of an invited paper presented at the Seventy-Seventh Two-Year College Chemistry Conference, New York City Technical College of The City University of New York. Brooklyn. NY. October 22-23. 1982.
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chemical orincioles. stimulate critical thinking along scientific lines, and dvmouitrate tu nunscumre maiors that rhcmistr.~ is indred rele\.ant w their :~ciidem;cexr~eriencfs.In addftion, making these connections serves to remind us that (3):". . . science is not an arroeant dictator in the whole arena of life hut rather a democraiic companion of philosophy, of art, of religion, and of other valid alternative approaches to reality." The following comments of James M. Banner, Jr., Chairman of the American Association for the Advancement of the Humanities, are appropriate for chemical educators a t both the two-year and four-year college levels (4): Sharingso much, the sciences and the humanities must.. .now conclude a new partnership an behalf of all knowledge and understanding. The communities of bath . . . should become mare closely involved at all levels and in all pursuits. For without joint efforts-intellectual, institutional, and civic-both will suffer and, along with them, American culture will suffer, too. Banner makes another point (similar to Weaver's, quoted earlier) that may be relevant to chemistrylhumanities integration: "To he a good scientist," he says, "one must be more than a scientific specialist." To be successful a t teaching chemistry withm the cmtext of the hum;mities, chemistry teilchers must he willing t u f.xp;in~ltheir expertise bevund the confines of their disci~line.and thev must be willine to establish meaningful d k o g u e with teachers in other disciolines-such as literature. historv. .. and the arts-and to draw uprm the expertise d s u c h teachers in designing cmlrses that effectively integrate rhrrnis~rywith tht. humanities. ChemistrylHumanities Integration: A Design
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Oraanization I will now describe in some detail one of several examples OF courses that can emplov chemistnilhumanities internation. The course has a weekly three-hour lecture component and a three-hour laboratory component, and the length of a semester is fourteen weeks. The theme of the course is pollution-of the human body and of the environment. I have selected this theme because the humanities provide agreat deal of supporting material-so much, actually, that the course can be periodically modified so that it can vary from semester to semester and can, therefore, never become stagnant. Two examinations are given during the semester, and, in terms of the total time required for these, one week is allotted. Thus, actual teaching occurs durine thirteen weeks of the semester. and a final examination is given during a regularly scheduled final examination oeriod a t the conclusion of the semester. The formal delineation of these thirteen weeks is then as follows: five weeks for basic conceots involvine- atomic structure. chemical bonding, reactions, and organic chemistry; four weeks for environmental ~ollution:and four weeks for drugs . and poisons (i.e., pharmacology and toxicology).
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Basic Concepts The first five weeks of the course are probably the most difficult for hoth teacher and student because the emphasis is on theory, and the more theoretical aspects of basic chemistry can, a t times, be boring for some students and, consequently, a source of frustration for the teacher as well. A good text often makes the task considerably less formidable than it would otherwise he. John W. Hill's "Chemistry for Changing euide acTimes" (. 5.) has served me well. A student studv " .. companies the hook, and the combination Lan be used tffestivelv to cover the rmuiritt! material in the time allotted.'l'he text also uses a historical approach in the presentation of sienificant chemical develooments. The teacher can expand onthis aspect of the hook h i drawing from other sourceb and can thus effectively emolov chemical history to humanize and thereby arouse interest in what otherwise-might turn out to he a not-so-exciting part of the course. The lahoratory component of the course is a 50-50 blend of the traditional and the nontraditional. The first seven weeks, which focus on the former, involve experiments that not only reinforce the lecture material of the first five weeks but also afford the students the opportunity to experience the "hands-on" nature of chemistry. The experiments can he of the teacher's own desien or can he some of those avoearine in manuals such as " ~ k e m i c a lInvestigations fo; ~ h a n g n g Times" (6).Based on the verv oositive reactions of mv students to experiments concerned with topics such as physical and chemical properties of matter, qualitative analysis for ions, molecular model building, and synthesis, I would suggest that a t least some of the experiments concentrate on these topics. Environmental Pollution and Drugs and Poisons weeks of the course the students Durine the remaining eieht " are still participating in traditional lahoratory experiments. The apparent lack of lecture/lahoratory coordination is deliberate: the students are given time to begin to learn the material that then becomes the basis for their nontraditional lahoratory experience. In each of the last seven laboratory sessions of the course. discussion and critical analysis of material from the hummities constitute rhe lntrm~t,~r;~ exercises, which hecome the iwus of tht! courbe. Particular emphasis is placed on the connections hetween this material and the information learned in the lectures. Student participation is essential; the class is divided into seven groups, and a t each laboratory meeting, one group-relying on input from the tearher whenewr nert:srarv- It'ads the class ior rh;~rsrssiun. The entire class is nor wquiwd t c g wad all tht, works:~ss~rinted with the sessions to he described below. Therefore, the group responsible for a session must inform the class about each reading so that there can he meaningful discussion. The laboratory report, too, differs from the norm. It is a summary of the discussion, critical analysis, and "chemical connections" referred to above and does not exceed 500 words. (Not enough writing takes place in chemistry courses, and assignment of this type of lahoratory report is one way of rectifying that condition.) The chemistry of air and water pollution is dealt with in detail in the lectures on environmental oollution. In eachof three lahoratory classes, the emphasis, respectively, is on the following:
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1) Charles Dickens' novels "Hard Times" and "Our Mutual
Friend" and William Blake's poem, "London;" 2) Dickens' novel "Oliver Twist" and Blake's two poems, both
entitled "The Chimney Sweeper;" 3) three National Geographic articles that depict the devastating effects of air and water pollution on works of art.
Both Dickens and Blake were social crusaders, and their writings offer many examples of the damaging effects of environmental pollution on both the living and nonliving.
Dickens'"Hard Times," for example, makes the reader aware of the damage wreaked by pollution on an 1850's Lancashire manufacturing town (7): It was a town of red brick, or of brick that would have been red if the smoke and ashes had allowed it; but as matters stood it was a town of unnatural red and black like the painted face of a savage. " It was a town of maehinerv and tall ehimnevs. . . out of which interminable serpents of smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever, and never got uncoiled. In "Our Mutual Friend" (a),Dickens wrote that "Animate London. with smartine.. eves . and irritated lunes. was blinking.". wheezing, and choking; inanimate l.undon was a sooty spectrr.. . ." This dewintion id the reoulsive aspect of a oollutrd city is reinforced in- lake's poem, l on don." The danger of being a part of "animate London" is further portrayed in "Oliver Twist," where Dickens descrihes the plight of the chimney sweep. Many orphan boys-some as young as six-were chimney sweeps. As a consequence of their repeated exposure to coal combustion by-products-most notably, henzo(a)pyrene, which is known to be responsible for modifications in the structures of DNA and RNA that cause cancer-they contracted scrota1 cancer and thus were among the earliest diagnosed victims of chemical carcinoeenesis. The lot of the chimnev sweeo is also voienantlv depicted in Blake's two poems, he C'himney ~ w e e ~ e r " ~ ( o n e from his "Sones of Innocence" collection and the other from his "Songs of Experience"). The National Geoprauhic articles shift the emohasis to the twentieth century. ?;he 'first article (9) descrihes how the city of Florence, "an incomparable treasure house of art, had been engulfed in a roaring tide of silt-laden water and fuel oil" when "the Arno River had risen from its banks" in 1966. The second (10) details how sulfur oxide "pollution eats away a t (Venice's) marble sculpture." T h e third (11) serves to reinforce the message of the second: acid rain, stemming from sulfur oxide pollution, and from nitrogen oxide pollution as well, is destroying hoth natural and man-made beauty. From forests and croplands to Athens' Parthenon, Rome's Colosseum, India's Taj Mahal, and our own Statue of Liberty, acid rain is insidiously inflicting its destruction. These artiiles also contain numerous photographs that can he used for discussion and analysis. The course concludes with the segment on drugs and poisons. Hill's text provides an overview of these two topics, and particular emphasis is placed on the central nervous system (CNS) stimulant cocaine, on such CNS depressants as the opium-derived drugs morphine and heroin, on cyanide poisoning, and on heavy metal poisons. The four remaining laboratory sessions concentrate, respectively, on the following:
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1) the book "Cocaine Papers" hy Sigmund Freud; 2) either of the films, "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution" or "The
French Connection;" 3) the book "Drugs in America: A Social History, 1800-1980" by 4)
H. Wayne Morgan; the detective novels "The Pale Horse" by Agatha Christie, "A Whiff of Death" bv Isaac Asimov. and "The Documents in the Case" by ~ o r o t h y iSayers . and kobert Eustace.
Freud's "Cocaine Papers" provides considerable insight into what a recent Time cover story called the substance that "is becoming the all-American drug" (12). According to a comorehensive introduction bv Robert Bvck, the book "is a complete chronicle of Freud's invo1veme"t with cocaine and . . .a history of. . . cocaine, since its first isolation from the coca leaf in 1855 to the end of the 19th Century" (13). The cocaine theme is further reinforced in the film "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution," which was released in 1976, with a screenplay written by Nicholas Meyer, the author of the best-selling novel of the same title. The title refers to the the "seven-per-cent solution" of cocaine that the famed fictional detective Sherlock Holmes injects a t the beginning of "The Sign of the Volume 61
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Four." one of Arthur Conan Dovle's Holmes stories. Both the novei and the film hring ~ o l m eand s Freud together "through the all-important link of cocaine" (14). "The French Connection," the 1971 film based on the book of the same title by Robin Moore, is of particular interest in terms of depicting the extensive and sophisticated network that exists for the illeaal distribution of heroin: of showine how a standard spot test for heroin is used to identif; the drug; and of describing how the extent of nuritv of the drue can be~stahlishedhg lneans ot'a melting p,;tnt determination rrni)lovinr a'l'hiele tuhe. The depiction of the mt,ltinr i~uint deterkin&on also serves as a connection to the expe&ment on the physical properties of matter that is conducted earlier in the "Drugs in America: A Social History, 1800-1980," which is written by a historian, is an insightful analysis that effectively complements the biochemistry of the various drugs discussed in class. Morgan stresses the importance of history in understanding drug problems (15):
course.
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The study of history can develop perspective or a sense of irony. Throughout my research I have tried to recall the implications in the observation of an anonymous morphine addict written in 1876: "This is an inquisitive, an experimenting, and a daring age-an age that has a lively contempt for the constraintsand timorous inactivity of ages past. Its quick-thinking and restless humanity are prying into everything. Opium will not pass by untampered with." This same observation is as true today as then and doubtless will merit quoting in generations to come. Every enduring social problem is rooted in some basic debate over inherited values and can neither be comprehended nor affected without an understanding of its history. The rationale for the selection of detective novels has been aptly stated by Daniel L. Weiss, a pathologist and executive secretary of the Medical Sciences Division of the National Academy of Sciences (16): The pleasure of science is accessible to anyone who makes the effort to look at it-suoerficiallv or in deoth. There is a soecial
even be entrapped by science's seductive charm. "The Pale Horse" is a novel in which the instrument of death is a heavy metal poison: thallium. The plot centers around the thallium-induced deaths of several victims of a carefully disguised and very well-organized murder-for-hire scheme. The literarv-chemical analvsis of this intrimins niece " of detective fiction can he expanded to include two news articles that relate the novel to authentic situations. One article (17) deals with the accidental thallium poisoning of a 19month-old girl whose life is, quite literally, saved by an alert nurse who had been reading "The Pale Horse" while attending the semiconscious airl. The nurse suaeested to doctors-who had been unable diagnose the girl's condition-that she might he a victim of thallium poisoning, lv -. a .~.~ a r e n tbecause he;symptoms were similar to those of the victims of thallium poisoning described in the novel. The second article (18) concerns-a killer who was not only sentenced to life imprisonment for using thallium to murder two of his fellow workers a t a British factory hut who was also consulted by physicians who treated the girl referred to previously. Asimov's novel "A Whiff of Death" is used in conjunction with the presentation on cyanide, which is the murder "weapon" used in the novel. Additional aspects of the novel that others have used for discussion with nonscience majors (19) are listed below: - A
t'o
1. Laboratory safety. This can be related to the murder of the student and the subsequent attempted murder. 2. Honesty. The necessity for the accurate reporting of data. 3. The value of research at a universitv. What are its roles and functions? How does it benefit the university, the faculty
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Journal of Chemical Education
member, the graduate student, the undergraduate nanscience student? 4. Does "publish or perish" exist? What does it mean? Has it any merits? 5. Is there any relationship between teaching and research? Can one be a good teacher without being involved in research? "The Documents in the Case" was written by Dorothy Savers in collaboration with Robert Eustace. who was actuallv a physician named Eustace Robert p art on. The death that occurs in the novel involves muscarine poisonine. -. and stereochemistry plays a crucial role in resol'ing the mystery. Of significance, and quite pertinent to the message of this paper, is the extensive background possessed by Sayers, a writer whose penchant for science is clearly displaved in her novel. That background was summarized in recent article appearing in The New York Times (20):
a
Dorothy Sayers was a Latin scholar; a student of Medieval history; an expert translator of Dante; a poet; a playwright; a feminist before mast people knew about feminism; an authority on Christian philosophy; one of the first women to ever receive a degree from Oxford, and, when the demands of scholarship permitted, a sophisticated writer with an formidable knack of writing novels and short stories about absolutely horrid people who go around platting murder. Conclusion I would like to conclude this paper by making a couple of points. The first is that a course of the type descrihed here requires periodic evaluation by the students. They should he asked to provide written invut-anonvmous if nreferred~.a(.hsrmester, SO that the teachcr can be made aware of the drrrer of rffrctivmeas oi the teachinn aooroach that is i t t i .. lized. The second point is a repetition of one that I made earlier: the course should never he allowed to become s t w a n t . A number of other examples that stress chemistryihum&ties integration can be utilized: 1) synergistic drug interaction and Wilkie Collins' famous Vietorian detective novel, "The Moonstone" (21); 2) the chemistry of "London Smog"and Charles Dickens' "Bleak House" and Friedrich Engels' "The Condition of the working Class in England" (22); 3) chemical warfare and Erich Maria Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front" (23); 4) anesthesia and Walt Whitman's poem "A March in the Ranks Hard-Prest, and the Road Unknown," T. S. Eliot's poem "The Love Song ofJ. Alfred Prufroek," George Bernard Shaw's play "The Doctor's Dilemma," Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front," and Stewart Brook's "Civil War Medicine" (24); 5) water pollution and Henrik Ibsen's play "An Enemy of the Peoole" (2.5):
The nontraditional laboratory component of the course can also he modified to include invited lectures by teachers in the humanities who can speak on topics relevant to those covered in the course. If chemistry and humanities teachers are really willing to extend themselves, I see no reason why a course that focuses entirely on chemistry cannot be coordinated with supporting courses in literature, history, and the arts. Acknowledgment . Strmt of the matrrial in this paper is the result of colhl~oration with I'roiesior \\'dli~m.l.Ilrwc~sof llrvuklvn C'ulleee's Department of English. Our interdisciplinary collaboratkm has been successful as well as enjoyable. Literature Cited ill Schatz. G . S.. Nem Report, National Academy of Sciences. Washington. DC. March 1982, p. 3. 121
R d (1l.p. 5.
neapolis. 198b (6) Scott, L. W.. Hill, J. W., Zabarowski, L. M., and Muto. P., "Chemiesl Inveltlgationi lor Changing Times." 3rd ed.. Rurwsr Publishing Co.. Minneapolis. 1960. (7) Diekens, C.. "Hard Times." Oxford Univenity Press, New York, 1959, p. 22. (8) Dickens, C., "Our Mutual Friend." SknetClassics, The New American Library. Inc., New York, 1964. p 466. (9) Judge, J.,Nolianoi Gooprophie, 132.1 (1967). (10) Judge, J., Notinno1 Geographic, 142,591 (1972). (11) LaBarfille,A..NolionoiGeogrophic,160.fi52 (19811. (I21 Time, July 6,1981.p.56. (Is) Freud, S., "Cocaine Pspcra," The Stonehill Publishing Co.. New York, 1974, p, xviii. (141 Meyer. N.,"The Seven-Per-Cent Solution." E. P. DuttonB Co., New York. 1974.p.
252. 115) Morgan, H. W , "Drugs in America: Asocial History. 18W1980: Syracuse Univorlity P ~ s sSyracuse, , NY, 1981. pp, r-xi. (161 Weiss, D. L.,SriQu~sr,53,3011980). (17) D a i b N e u s (NewYark),June24, 1977. p.4. (18) Time, July 17,1972, p. 31. I191 Hu5k.G. R.,and Ke1iher.P. N., J.CHEM. BDUC.,S0,69l1973). (201 Severo, R., T h r N e u Yark Timsr,Oct. 31, 1981, p. CL. (21) Labiancs. D. A., and Reeves, W. J..J CHRM.EDUC..52.65 (1975):Lsbianes.D. A., and Reeves, W. J.,ScienceEduc.,59.461(1975). (22) Lsbianca, D. A . and Reeves. W. J.. J. Coil. Sci. Teaching, 5.93 119751. (23) Labianea, D. A,, and Reeves, W. J., Indireelionr, 1.19 (1976). (24) Labianca, D. A,, and Reeves, W.J., J. Coli. Sri. Teaching,6,163 (1977). (25) Lsbianca, D. A., sod Reeves, W. J.. ImprouinpEoli. ond Uniu Teaching, 28, 133 11980).
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