Connecting Chemistry to Social Justice in a Seminar Course for Chemistry Majors

Undergraduate chemistry majors should be encouraged to consider chemistry-based solutions to issues that impact their daily lives as well as the lives of poor and marginalized populations worldwide. Some issues that disproportionately influence historically disadvantaged populations are also directly related to or could be impacted by chemistry. This idea of addressing social justice with chemistry is not often addressed in chemistry curricula but has recently gained importance with students and instructors. In response to this challenge and need, a seminar course was developed to assist chemistry majors in connecting chemistry concepts to social justice issues. The seminar course aimed at teaching scientific research and communication skills but thematically added social justice concepts while focusing on chemistry advances that relate to, for example, environmental racism, forensic chemistry, opioid addiction, women's health, and food disparities. Students in this course demonstrated an understanding of recent chemistry research while also expressing compelling connections to social justice challenges.