Contextualizing Chemistry in Art and Archaeology Inspiration for Instructors

Engaging students through the chemistry of art, archaeology, and cultural heritage

Chemistry serves a critical role in the fields of archaeology and art, from assisting in the reconstruction of humanity's past to the preservation of priceless works of art. Exploring the interface of chemistry, art, and archaeology within the chemistry curriculum can help students understand and engage in core chemistry concepts. Readers will appreciate the comprehensive description of tested pedagogical activities, laboratories, courses, and study abroad experiences at the intersection of chemistry, art, and archaeology.

Kevin L. Braun has been a chemistry instructor since 2007. In 2018, he joined the faculty in the Department of Chemistry at the Virginia Military Institute and teaches courses in general chemistry, analytical chemistry, and instrumentation. Dr. Braun earned a B.S. in Chemistry and B.A. in
Anthropology before obtaining his Ph.D. at the University of Arizona in Dr. Craig Aspinwall's group. This was followed by a post-doctoral research position with Dr. J. Michael Ramsey at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Throughout his career, Dr. Braun has been interested in how context-based programming can improve student performance and enthusiasm from introductory chemistry to advanced topic courses. In 2012, he coauthored the ChemConnections Activity Workbook (W. W. Norton), a collection of fifty-nine
activities and laboratories set in context of societally and environmentally relevant issues. In 2020, he again partnered with W.W. Norton to coauthor a context-rich, first-ever interactive instructor's guide for Chemistry: The Science in Context, 6th Ed. by Gilbert, Kirss, Bretz, and Foster.
Between 2010 and 2016, he organized and co-taught four week-long faculty workshops on teaching chemistry through the lens of renewable energy in the NSF sponsored Chemistry Collaborations, Workshops, and Community of Scholars (cCWCS) program.

Dr. Braun's research interests include the investigation of ink and pigment degradation in the context of forensic document analysis and archaeological lipid residue analysis. These projects also inform his teaching and have led to the development of context-based undergraduate laboratories on
forensic document analysis, arsenic screening of taxidermy, ethnographic, and archaeological collections, and lipid residue analysis of archaeological pottery. The latter laboratory was published in the Journal of Chemical Education in 2017.

Kristin Jansen Labby is faculty in the Chemistry Department at Beloit College. After undergraduate studies at theUniversity ofWisconsin-Madison, she completed her PhD in medicinal chemistry in the lab of Richard B. Silverman at Northwestern University. She continued with postdoctoral research and
lecturing at the University of Michigan. She joined the Beloit College Faculty in 2014. Her interests in chemistry and art were fostered by participating in NSF-funded cCWCS Chemistry in Art workshops. In addition to incorporating art and archaeology into the chemistry classroom, she works to engage
students in antibiotic resistance research and drug discovery as a Tiny Earth Partner Instructor.

Preface - Chemistry's Diverse Applications in Art and Archaeology

General Chemistry
Chapter 1: Incorporating Conservation Science into the General Education Curriculum, Joan M. Esson
Chapter 2: Archaeological and Historical Pigments: A Unifying Framework for Delivering Relevant Chemical Content Utilizing an Interdisciplinary Approach, Christopher R. Vyhnal and Roxanne Radpour
Chapter 3: Connecting Chemistry and Cultural Heritage: Presenting the Physical Sciences to Non-science Majors and First-Year Students through the Investigation of Works of Art and Archaeological Artifacts, Citlalli Rojas Huerta and Maria Parr
Chapter 4: Using Examples from Art and Archaeology to Demonstrate the Chemistry of Materials in a General Education Course, Jennifer E. Mihalick
Chapter 5: Using the History of Technology to Connect Art and Chemistry in a Science of Art Course for Nonscience Majors, Brian McBurnett
Chapter 6: Making Light Work: A First-Year Writing Course on Art, Colors, and Chemistry, Benjamin J. McFarland

Instrumentation
Chapter 7: The Chemistry of Art and Artifacts: A Sophomore-Level, Thematic Chemical Instrumentation Course, Kristin Jansen Labby
Chapter 8: X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy in Painting Analyses: Undergraduate Classroom, Teaching Laboratory, and Research, Erich S. Uffelman, Liesbeth Abraham, Andrea Abry, Nicholas Barbi, Harris Billings, Sydney Collins, Sam Florescu, Christina Kargol, Jorinde Koenen, Mireille te Marvelde,
Jennifer L. Mass, Leo Mazow, Daniel Monteagudo, Kathryn Muensterman, Carol W. Sawyer, Kate Seymour, and Mallory Stephenson
Chapter 9: Multispectral and Hyperspectral Reflectance Imaging Spectrometry (VIS, VNIR, SWIR) in Painting Analyses: Undergraduate Teaching and Interfacial Undergraduate Research at the Nexus of Chemistry and Art, Erich S. Uffelman, Liesbeth Abraham, John P. Davis, John K. Delaney, Kathryn A. Dooley,
Lindsey Hewitt, Jorinde Koenen, Mireille te Marvelde, Kathryn Muensterman, Konstantinos Oikonomou, Darcy Olmstead, Trinity Perdue, Jensen Rocha, Jessica Roeders, Annika Roy, and Lidwien Speleers
Chapter 10: Mixing Chemistry and Pigments: X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy as a Nondestructive Technique for Analysis of Pigments in a Painted Japanese Handscroll, Kathryn L. Rowberg, Grethe Hystad, Matthew L. Clarke, Jazmin Gonzalez, and Johnathon M. Taylor

Study Abroad
Chapter 11: Development and Implementation of Molecular Modernism, a "Chemistry and Art" Course with Travel Components in France or the United States, Jeffrey E. Fieberg
Chapter 12: Exploring London through the World of Art and Chemistry: The Properties and Uses of Metals in Sculpture, Lynn M. Bradley and Elizabeth Mackie

Interdisciplinary or Multiple Levels
Chapter 13: Dry Laboratory Forgery Investigation of a Purported Giorgio de Chirico Painting for a "Chemistry in Art" Course, Jeffrey E. Fieberg and Gregory D. Smith
Chapter 14: Teaching Undergraduate Chemistry through Fibers and Dyes, Angela G. King and Annelise H. Gorensek-Benitez
Chapter 15: Integrating Archaeology and Interdisciplinary Collaborations with Museums into the Chemistry Curriculum, Kevin L. Braun
Chapter 16: An Introduction to Ceramic Glaze Color Chemistry, Jennifer L. Wicks and Ryan H. Coppage
Chapter 17: The Heterogeneity Problem: Intermolecular Forces as They Relate to Solubility and Chromatography, Joseph F. Lomax and Suzanne Q. Lomax

Editors' Biographies
Author Index
Subject Index