Liberal Arts in Action: Mixed Art, History and Chemistry

If there is one thing you can’t deny about the College’s Core Curriculum, it’s that it shows how close science and the humanities really are. When thinking about the mixing of disciplines, there are some subjects that are much more readily paired—such as psychology and biology or visual arts and photography. However, one particular physical science Core class seeks to combine three subjects that aren’t a natural fit on the surface. That class is “The Chemistry of Artists' Materials” taught by Assistant Instructional Professor Hannah Lant. 

When Lant started her position at UChicago, she was asked to create a Core course on chemistry. When first faced with this relatively straightforward request, Lant thought back to her background in alternative energy and considered creating a class focused on climate change. However, she quickly realized that the subject was already covered in several courses, so she shifted focus. 

“Pigments and dyes always fascinated me,” Lant explained in an interview. “I hadn’t spent much time diving into it besides my own dabbling in artistic pursuits.” 

From this line of thought, she figured a class on how science is used in the creation of artists’ materials would be the perfect opportunity to dive into the overlap found between chemistry and art. So, she pivoted towards a humanities avenue that could be observed through both a scientific and historical lens. This heavily interdisciplinary focus then became a “perfect example of liberal arts in action.” Especially when Lant took into consideration her current artistic focus in stained glass, analog photography, and working with natural dyes.

The course currently meets three times a week for a lecture and once a week for a lab. When in the classroom, students learn about the fundamentals of chemistry and its technical aspects. However, once they get into the lab, they get to put what they learned throughout the week into practice. Before each lab session, students are given historical literature explaining how artists’ materials were produced in the past. For example, a reading assignment from week three explained how people used to process flowers to extract safflower dye, a chemical process historically performed by cultures across the Eurasian continent as a source of reds, pinks and yellows. These lessons provided a foundation for what was to come when her students entered the lab for their hands-on experience. 

During week six, the lab session included a visit to the Mansueto Conservation Science Laboratory. This trip exemplified another important aspect of art: how to protect and preserve a piece over time. In conservation science, experts learn not only how to conserve pieces, but also how to identify what was used to make them in order to timestamp and authenticate it. In this lab, students took a look at an early Meiji-era Japanese print borrowed from the Visual Resources Center and housed in the Department of Art History and used the laboratory’s equipment to investigate its chemical makeup with the goal of finding its earliest possible date of production (also known as the terminus post quem) ... the answer was 1878!

Lant’s teaching assistant, Katelyn Feuling, describes this course as “one of the coolest classes” as it helps students learn about things used in the everyday that’s not often thought about scientifically. Student Alina Qiu reiterated Feuling’s thoughts, calling the class “super interesting,” especially since dyes and pigments are so closely applicable to the real world. By the end of the quarter, students in the class will have acquired skills that span several different subjects, some of which they’ll use in future coursework. This demonstrates how unique courses can be used to establish the interdisciplinary identity of the general liberal arts education and how it is a vital element in the Core.