CHEM 155: Science of Cooking Italy

CHEM 155

4 Credits - FDR SL

4 Weeks in Italy

Professor Marcia France

This course will take place over four weeks in Siena, Italy. This is a non-majors science course that satisfies FDR SL. No previous college level science is required to take the Chem 154-155 course sequence. Course material includes an introduction to the structure of molecules as well as their inter- and intramolecular interactions, with an emphasis on those species of importance to food and cooking. Additional science topics include cell structure of plants and meats and methods of heat transfer. Chemical reactivity as it relates to cooking, fermentation, food preservation, and spoilage will also be discussed.

Chem 154 will meet 1:25-5:25 Friday afternoons during Winter Term and will consist of a lecture followed by laboratory. Chem 155 in the Spring Term will consist of daily lectures as well as 9 cooking lessons at a nearby cooking school. Students will get to eat what they cook. Field trips will include a winery, a brewery, a saffron production facility, a cheese factory, a pastry and cookie factory, and a gelateria. Students will have access to library and computer facilities as well internet access at IES Siena. Accommodation will be in shared apartments with kitchens.

Note: None of the activities on the trip require unusual, rigorous physical effort for completion of the course components.

Program Fee (paid to W&L): $3,300. This covers accommodation, all travel within Italy (for students who arrive at and depart from the Florence Peretola Airport (FLR) at specified times), cooking school tuition (including 9 full meals), field trips, use of facilities, supplemental medical insurance, 5 additional meals (lunch or dinner), a welcome reception, and 24/7 emergency support from IES Abroad.

Other Estimated Expenses: Airfare - $1,500; additional meals - $600, and an Italian cell phone - $50.

Prerequisite: CHEM 154, to be taken in Winter Term 2014 on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Fulfilling FDR SL through Chem 155 requires a grade of S in Chem 154. Students earning a U in Chem 154 may not take Chem 155 but are still liable for all costs of the program. Graded material in Chem 154 will be counted toward the Chem 155 grade.

Please contact Prof. France for further information.