Chemistry - B.A. and B.S.
Dain Beezer, Ph.D., Discipline Coordinator
Chemistry is important, both as an area in liberal education and as a professional field. Fisk's chemistry program is on the approved list of the American Chemical Society (ACS). Its faculty members are active in research in different areas of chemistry, especially in biomedical, computational, and environmental research. Students often collaborate in these projects.
The chemistry discipline offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. The undergraduate offerings are designed to serve three types of students: those who intend to pursue chemistry as a profession or to do graduate work in chemistry; those who need training in chemistry as part of their preparation for professional fields such as medicine, dentistry, nursing, and secondary school teaching; and those who wish a knowledge of chemistry as part of a liberal education. Students intending to major in chemistry should consult with a member of the chemistry faculty regarding a program of study.
The program in Chemistry has the following goals:
- To provide a challenging curriculum with effective methods for teachers to teach and students to learn chemistry.
- To prepare students for graduate study, professional training or careers in industry, education and government through study and research.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the chemistry major, the student will:
- Demonstrate knowledge of CORE principles and theories of chemistry;
- Integrate the use of chemistry with other sciences and apply knowledge, theory, technology and instrumentation of chemistry to solve real life problems;
- Demonstrate knowledge and practice of technical and safety skills in the laboratory; and
- Demonstrate oral and written communication skills relevant to chemistry research.
- Departmental honors in chemistry are awarded to exceptional graduating seniors. In addition to Fisk University’s requirement for a minimum cumulative grade- point average of 3.3 in chemistry courses, chemistry majors must also have participated in senior research in CHEM 355 and/or 356 and must be examined on an honors thesis based on this research.
Chemistry major programs are designed to meet American Chemical Society standards, which do not permit reduced credit hours in chemistry. Consequently, the chemistry discipline does not enter into joint major agreements with other disciplines.
Major Requirements
Requirements for the chemistry major, in addition to the University degree requirements outlined within this Bulletin, are:
Required Courses
Note:
CHEM 316: required for ACS curriculum
NSCI 361 and NSCI 361L: required for ACS accreditation
The remaining hours in chemistry, sufficient to reach the required total, should be chosen in consultation with the discipline’s faculty.
Major Electives
7 credits, BA; 14 Credits, BS
CHEM 316 and NSCI 361/NSCI 361L are required for ACS certification.
Required Cognates
MATH Elective: beyond Calculus II
MATH Elective, NSCI 360 and CSCI 110: An additional 4-credit mathematics or computer science course approved by the chemistry faculty.
General Education Guidelines
The CORE Curriculum is required for all majors.
- Group B- Analytical Skills: Math 120 or Math 121
- Group D- Science: BIOL 101/BIOL101L and CHEM 113/CHEM 103
- Foreign language: (0-6 credits) – dependent upon the foreign language placement scores. Note that students who plan to enter graduate school in biology or professional school in the biomedical sciences. Demonstrating proficiency beyond the beginner level (101) are required to take a general university elective in order to meet the 120 hours required for graduation.
- Technology Literacy: (3-4 credits) CSCI 100 or CSCI 110/CSCI 110L.
- CORE Math requirement – fulfilled typically through Math 101 or Math 110. Note that MATH100 will not count toward the120 hours required for graduation.
- Chemistry majors are advised to include, among their general elective coursework, additional study in mathematics and computer science.
Suggested Program Plan
First Year, Fall Semester
First Year, Spring Semester
Second Year, Fall Semester
| CHEM 233 | ORGANIC CHEMISTRY I | 3 |
| CHEM 203 | EXPERIMENTS IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY I | 1 |
| PHYS 130 | UNIVERSITY PHYSICS I | 3 |
| PHYS 130L | EXPERIMENTS IN GENERAL PHYSICS I | 1 |
| FOREIGN LANGUAGE 101 - FRENCH OR SPANISH | 3 |
| CORE | 3 |
| GENERAL ELECTIVE | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 17 |
Second Year, Spring Semester
| CHEM 234 | ORGANIC CHEMISTRY II | 3 |
| CHEM 206 | EXPERIMENTS IN ORGANIC AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY | 2 |
| PHYS 140 | UNIVERSITY PHYSICS II | 3 |
| PHYS 140L | EXPERIMENTS IN GENERAL PHYSICS II | 1 |
| CORE 260 | HUMANITIES: THOUGHT AND EXPERIENCE | 3 |
| FOREIGN LANGUAGE 102 - FRENCH OR SPANISH | 3 |
| CORE | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 18 |
Third Year, Fall Semester
| CHEM 341 | PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY I | 3 |
| CHEM 341L | PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY I LAB | 1 |
| CORE 201 | INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP | 3 |
| MATH Course | 3 |
| CORE | 3 |
| GENERAL ELECTIVE | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 16 |
Third Year, Spring Semester
| CHEM 342 | PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY II | 3 |
| CHEM 342L | PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY II LAB | 1 |
| CORE | 3 |
| CORE | 3 |
| GENERAL ELECTIVE | 3 |
| GENERAL ELECTIVE | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 16 |
Fourth Year, Fall Semester
Fourth Year, Spring Semester
| CHEM 316 | INORGANIC CHEMISTRY | 3 |
| CHEM 402 | CHEMICAL COLLOQUIUM | 0.5 |
| CORE | 3 |
| GENERAL ELECTIVE | 3 |
| GENERAL ELECTIVE | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 12.5 |
Total Credit Hours: 120