Program Description
This active and collaborative program will prepare you for what’s next. You start collecting chemical knowledge and skills through core courses and shadowing faculty and upper-level student researchers. As a sophomore, you will start helping with authentic, real-world research projects – experience many biochemistry students don’t get until graduate programs. This is possible thanks to the individual attention you get in our small classes and our well-equipped research laboratories.
Learning Goals/Outcomes
- Describe laws & theories of chemistry pertaining to the properties of matter, chemical reactions and their stoichiometry, properties of gases, solution chemistry and acid/base chemistry.
- Describe chemistry of organic molecules including functional group structure and properties, structure and stereochemistry of alkanes, nucleophilic substitution and elimination reactions of alkyl halides, the structure/synthesis/reactions of alkenes, alcohols, aromatic compounds, amines, carboxylic acids, carboxylic acid derivatives and aldehydes/ketones.
- Summarize chemical thermodynamics, chemical kinetics & quantum mechanics and relate information to modern day chemistry.
- Develop language, terms & critical thinking/problem solving skills to use and understand analytical instrumentation used in chemistry and biochemistry today.
- Acquire laboratory skills, including knowledge of laboratory safety, proper laboratory behavior, and to be functional with laboratory equipment and techniques.
- Describe the chemistry of inorganic compounds, to include symmetry and group theory, molecular orbital theory, coordination chemistry, main group element chemistry and the chemistry of the solid state.
- Describe metabolism (including signaling mechanisms, basic biochemistry of DNA and RNA and mechanisms of control of gene expression), protein structure-function and laboratory techniques used in biochemical research.
- Garner information and critically analyze information (Information Literacy skills in general).
- Effectively communicate in written formats germane to the sciences.
- Successfully use their garnered research skills to probe new avenues of scientific inquiry.
- Utilize communication skills to disseminate research to both the general public and the scientific community.
Curriculum: 4 year, 125 credits
| First Year | Credits | |
|---|---|---|
| FYS 100 | Pathways Seminar | 1 |
| WRIT 101 | Writing Sem I: Written Comm. | 3 |
| AVIS 101 | American Visions | 3 |
| CHEM 113 | Chemistry I | 3 |
| CHEM 113L | Chemistry I Lab | 1 |
| CHEM 114 | Chemistry II | 3 |
| CHEM 114L | Chemistry II Lab | 1 |
| BIOL 103 | Biology I | 3 |
| BIOL 103L | Biology I Lab | 1 |
| MATH 111 | Calculus I | 4 |
| MATH 112 | Calculus II | 4 |
| SCI 200 | Intro to Sci Research Methods | 1 |
| Credits | 28 | |
| Second Year | ||
| WRIT 201 | Writing Seminar II:Multi Comm | 3 |
| ETHC 2XX | Ethics Course Placeholder | 3 |
| GDIV 2XX | Global Diversity Placeholder | 3 |
| MATH 331 | Math Methods in Chem,Phys&Eng | 3 |
| PHY 101 | Physics I | 3 |
| PHY 103 | Physics I Laboratory | 1 |
| PHY 102 | Physics II | 3 |
| PHY 104 | Physics II Laboratory | 1 |
| CHEM 201 | Organic Chemistry I | 3 |
| CHEM 201L | Organic Chemistry I Lab | 1 |
| CHEM 202 | Organic Chemistry II | 3 |
| CHEM 202L | Organic Chemistry II Lab | 1 |
| General Elective | 3 | |
| Credits | 31 | |
| Third Year | ||
| ADIV 2XX | American Diversity Placeholder | 3 |
| GCIT 2XX | Global Citizenship Placeholder | 3 |
| CGIS 300 | Contemporary Global Issues | 3 |
| ISEM 3XX | Integrative Sem Placeholder | 3 |
| BCHM 312 | Biochemistry: Proteins | 3 |
| BCHM 312L | Biochemistry: Proteins Lab | 1 |
| BCHM 313 | Biochemistry:Metabolism | 3 |
| BCHM 313L | Biochemistry: Metabolism Lab | 1 |
| CHEM 305 | Physical Chemistry I | 3 |
| CHEM 305L | Physical Chemistry 1 Lab | 1 |
| CHEM 306 | Physical Chemistry II | 3 |
| CHEM 306L | Physical Chemistry II Lab | 1 |
| Adv Chemistry Elective | 3-4 | |
| Credits | 31-32 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| PHIL 499 | Philosophies of the Good Life | 3 |
| CHEM 323 | Instrumental Meth of Analysis | 3 |
| CHEM 323L | Instrmntl Meth of Analysis Lab | 1 |
| CHEM 309 | Inorganic Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 309L | Inorganic Chemistry Lab | 1 |
| Adv Chemistry Electives | 9-11 | |
| General Elective | 9 | |
| Credits | 29-31 | |
| Total Credits | 119-122 | |