A new class will aim to make a deep impact on Tufts' curriculum and help undecided underclassmen evolve into science majors.
"From the Big Bang to Humankind" will first be offered this spring, made possible by a $1 million award from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to Chemistry Professor David Walt.
The institute gives such awards to 20 professors per year so they can develop research and other educational activities. Walt received his in April 2006.
He said that he decided to use part of his funding to create a "meaningful and interesting course" that would integrate ideas from different scientific backgrounds.
"I thought that this course would give students a comprehensive overview of the exciting things that are happening in a variety of fields," Walt said.
The class will be taught by Walt, Associate Biology Professor Kelly McLaughlin, and Anthropology Lecturer Lauren Sullivan, and astrophysicist Eric Chaisson the director of Tufts' Wright Center for Innovative Science Education.
"[We] are really excited for the opportunity to teach this course," Walt said. "We really want to convey to students how science is accomplished and the reasons why all of us were attracted to science as our careers."
The group has worked together to develop a curriculum encompassing astronomy, geology, chemistry, biology and anthropology. Topics covered will include the Big Bang, the origins of the stars and planets, the composition and structure of Earth, genetics, human origins and the chemistry of life.
"We talk a lot about [interdisciplinary education] in the university - here's a great example of it working in the classroom," Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser said.
According to Glaser, some co-taught classes have fallen apart because a multiplicity of voices can lead to a lack of continuity or direction.
As Walt will be the "glue" holding the course together, Glaser said this should not be a problem.
"The dangers of the co-taught class won't be there, but the excitement will," he said.
The course has no prerequisites, but will only be offered to underclassmen because its creators want to target students who are unsure whether or not they want to pursue a science major.
"We are hoping that some people on the fence of science will take the course and see how exciting science is," said Meredith Knight, the program coordinator for Walt's HHMI award.
Walt said that the topic of the course might help students with this discovery.
"[It] will put all the students who take the course in position to understand our place in the universe and also to develop a life-long ability to evaluate and appreciate new developments in science and technology," he said.
The class will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. in Pearson 104 with a maximum enrollment of 200 students.
Walt would like to make it a regular offering, but says he is just testing the waters right now.
"We just want to see how well it goes this coming semester," he said.
The course's creation is just one of the initiatives that Walt has introduced using his award money.
Last year, the funds were used to introduce one of several Computer Science 194 classes. Taught by Computer Science Professor Carla Brodley, it brings together graduate students from the biology, chemistry and computer science departments to study data management.
And this summer Diane Perito, a Malden High School teacher who got her doctorate in chemistry from Tufts in 1987, used award money to develop programming that will give her students the chance to examine their cells and DNA.
"The fact that he won this is huge for him and it's huge for the university," Glaser said. "It's a very, very competitive and prestigious honor and the beauty of it is it has nice repercussions for us."
Rob Silverblatt contributed reporting to this article.
