Although the description above could be taken from a deleted chapter of The DaVinci Code, it actually describes the daily routine of chemist Richard Hark during the 2007-2008 academic year. He traveled to England to learn techniques for a Raman microscope, which uses a laser beam to analyze unique reflected light signatures to identify organic or inorganic material for analysis and identification. The microscope is generally recognized as the best method for identifying compounds in ceramic pigments or dyes, icons, paintings, manuscripts, papyrus and other artifacts. Although Hark is not planning to forsake his chemistry career to become an art analyst, he decided to branch into a new area of chemical analysis as a way of obtaining skills for his “Chemistry of Art” course. Eventually, the chemist would like to collaborate with the art history faculty to use his newly acquired expertise as a teaching tool for the museum studies program and his chemistry students. Indeed, Hark already has introduced a lecture in spring semester 2009 on art analysis that will
At right, Lucia Burgio, object analysis scientist at the Victoria & Albert Museum, teaches Hark the intricacies of analyzing art using the Raman instrument. The two have collaborated on several articles as a result of Hark’s sabbatical work.
Juniata
= video on JuniataExtra
40
use a small Raman microscope and other instruments into his art course. As part of his year in England, Hark studied with Robin J.H. Clark, professor emeritus of chemistry at University College London, perhaps the world’s foremost authority on the Raman microscope, and then spent months as an analyst at the Victoria and Albert Museum in central London. Three years earlier… So how did a Juniata chemistry professor end up examining ancient artifacts at one of Britain’s best museums? “I was looking for an experience I could apply to my work and specifically to my “Chemistry of Art” course,” Hark recalls. “A professor at Brandeis University, Michael Henchman, who teaches a “Chemistry of Art” course there, said ‘Why don’t you do what I did?’ and he told me about Robin Clark and his lab.” Sabbaticals are not unique to academia, but college and university professors use them to explore new areas of scholarship, research or write books, create new courses and a host of other purposes. Tenured faculty can apply for a sabbatical every seven years, subject to approval by the provost and the Faculty Development Committee. The catch is that you have to have your sabbatical planned out before submitting it for approval. “I don’t think (sabbaticals) are one-size-fits-all,” says James Lakso, provost at Juniata. “At some larger places, sabbaticals are aimed at research projects or finishing a