Great Issues in Science

HSP 123H -   CRN 2309

Discussion – Tuesday &Thursday 11:00am-12:00pm - Observatory

Lab - Wednesday 3:10-5:00pm in Kresge 376

Dr. Vanessa McCaffrey

A Chemist in the Kitchen: The Science of Food and Cooking

Food is one of the basic needs of all people.  Not only must we eat in order to provide fuel for our bodies, but it is an integral part of our society.  The food that we eat is composed of invisibly small molecules.  When we process food, either by storage or by cooking, we begin to affect how these molecules interact with each other.  This class will begin to describe food and the transformations that take place in food in chemical and scientific terms.  We will explore the molecular nature of the food that we eat.  By readings and discussion, we will begin to understand how taste, smell and our enjoyment of food are influenced by basic chemical properties.

We will also spend some time exploring the impact that food has on our everyday lives.  How often do we think of food as anything other than energy to get us through the rest of the day?  In class, I want to take a closer look at the many aspects of food in society.  We will be looking at a variety of different issues ranging from food in fiction and popular culture to some of the questions that arise when the genetic code of our food is tampered with.  Some of the ideas we will investigating in more depth are given below.

Most of us take for granted the occasional (or more frequent!) meals at fast food restaurants, but what are the effects this industry has on our society?  What social and ethical prices are we paying for cheap and tasty food? 

What is MSG?  Most of us know it as the food additive in Chinese cuisine that is responsible for everything from headaches to seizures.  Does it deserve this bad reputation?  What exactly is it used for anyway?

There will be a laboratory associated with the class.  However, the lab is not a cooking class!  Most of the experiments we do will not involve making or eating food.  But don’t worry: there might be a few surprises throughout the semester.  Some labs planned include:

1)  determining the vitamin content of bell peppers and how it changes with cooking

2)  investigating how structure of molecules can influence smell

3)  extracting DNA from food

4)  looking at gluten formation in bread products

Partial reading list:

            Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

            Dinner at the New Gene Café by Bill Lambrecht

            Chocolat by Joanne Harris (maybe)

            Excerpts from It Must Have Been Something I Ate by Jeffrey Steingarten

            Excerpts from The Art of Eating by M. F. K. Fisher

Grading:

25% of your grade will come from the laboratory section of the class.  In the lab, you will be expected to write two lab reports.  These are typically pretty short, two or three pages each.  There are occasionally questions due at the end of the each of the lab based on the experiment performed that day. 

The rest of your grade will be based on the discussion section of the class.  You will be expected to write two large papers (4-5 pages) and a few small papers (1-2 pages) on subjects to be announced.  As in all other Honors Seminars, your grade will be based on participation in class discussions and if you have completed the assigned reading for the class.  Part of your participation grade will come from participation in lab.