GEMSTONES: AN UNDERGRADUATE COURSE EMPHASIZING THE CULTURAL IMPORTANCE OF GEOLOGY

One of the most difficult challenges facing academic geologists is conveying the application, importance, and relevance of geology in the day-to-day lives of citizens. From a university curricular standpoint, geologists also face the challenge of addressing these challenges in ways that are creative, interesting, and exciting to students. Around the United States, earth science departments are seeking to introduce courses that wrap sound geological and evolutionary concepts into courses having greater popular appeal than most traditional geology offerings.

A successful undergraduate course in gemstones was recently introduced at The Ohio State University. The course is high in visual appeal, and capitalizes on students' seemingly intrinsic interest in gems, precious metals, jewelry, and artwork. Students are led through a journey involving: 1, the geologic or biologic origin of major gems and precious stones or metals; 2, the physics and chemistry of gem identification, color alteration, and cutting; 3, the role that gems have played in human history, including their relationship to major historical events, the history of some specific stones, and the relationship between gems and economics; 4, the development of technologies used to simulate or synthesize gems; and 5, the techniques of differentiating natural stones from lab-created forms. This freshman-level course in gemstones combines essential concepts of introductory earth science courses, including tectonics, sedimentation, evolution, and geologic time, with elements of the social sciences, the arts, and the humanities in a way that poses geology as a core constituent of the global economy and as a field that directly touches our lives everyday.