In today’s world, reaching into our closets and pulling out literally whatever shade of clothing we desire is an afterthought. But even 200 years ago, colored garments were a luxury and, in some cases, reserved for royalty. In Dyeing to Learn Chemistry, students will learn about the rich history of natural dyeing traditions around the globe, how these practices were affected by colonialism and industrialization, and how artisans of today work to keep the traditional methods alive. While exploring the historical, economic and social implications of dyes we will build a strong foundation in the chemistry of how dyes work. But what would a chemistry class be without a laboratory component? In this course, you will explore different dyeing techniques in lab (both traditional and modern), use your chemistry knowledge to explain the physical phenomena they observed, and ultimately design and present a research project on a natural dye experiment of your own interest.

The part of Colorado that includes, and surrounds, the San Luis Valley (SLV) has an amazingly rich set of ‘histories’, including those that are earth science, anthropological, cultural, economic and political in nature. In other words it is a region that can be explored using a wide variety of disciplinary perspectives that together fit under the General Education umbrella. In this course students will be introduced to the concept of ‘disciplinary perspectives’ and what defines them in general. As an example of how such disciplines can operate, students will spend several weeks learning and applying the practices & methods inherent to the earth sciences via first-hand study of the SLV region. Then they will step back and consider the ‘why’ of the earth sciences; what questions or applications are considered important, and how the field of study has evolved over time. Throughout the course students will also have the opportunity to study other kinds of histories via readings and conversations with students in other CC100 classes.

Antibiotics are one of the primary tools we have to treat bacterial infections and have saved millions of lives. However, the increasing prevalence of multi-drug resistant bacterial infections presents a significant challenge for science and society. How do antibiotics work and how does antibiotic resistance develop? How do scientists discover novel antibiotics and other medicines? How are new medicines tested for safety and efficacy? In this course, we will explore how new medicines are designed, tested, marketed, and administered in the community. Throughout, we will consider how these processes have benefitted or marginalized different identity groups. Finally, students will participate in a collaborative research project to test potential novel antibiotics for the treatment of biofilm-mediated bacterial infections. This course is designed for students who are not currently planning to major in the chemical or biological sciences and/or are taking the course to satisfy the Scientific Analysis general education requirement.

We will cover basic nucleic acid biochemistry and introduction to genomes at the interface between science and society. Students will compare genome and genome organization in different organisms, including humans and primates. Building on their knowledge of genomes, students will explore how genes influence human variation, including the inheritance of disease. Students will examine diseases and their treatment along with race, gender, and economic issues that alter disease outcomes. As part of this topic, the class will investigate the evidence for biological versus social constructions of race. Students will discuss other aspects of variation such as gender, sex, and sexual orientation in humans and primates from scientific and cultural perspectives. Students will investigate biases that come into the practice of science from studies on flowers to crops to humans. Ethical issues that arise from genome alterations of organisms are an essential topic in this class. We will actively explore knowledge, knowledge construction, and language use in the practice of science. Students will engage in research-based projects to analyze scientific topics from social and scientific perspectives.

Modern forensics, made popular by crime-solving television shows, movies, and novels, has roots in technologies, and observational and data collection methods originally developed for use in geological research. This course centers the application of geoscience concepts to environmental, historical, criminal, and archeological forensic investigations, while introducing geology subfields of sedimentology, stratigraphy, mineralogy, petrology, and geochemistry through in-class activities, student-lead case studies, and field excursions. Applications to be discussed in class include investigations of art and antiquities fraud, food authenticity, archeological and historic controversies, and criminal investigations. Students will develop skills to interpret trace evidence in the context of minerals, rocks, soils, and the fossil record, and to generate testable observation-based hypotheses. The block will culminate with students using materials learned to author original novellas or scripts where forensic geological evidence plays a central role in solving a mystery, crime, or controversy.