Professional Documents
Culture Documents
UWP 1
28 February 2017
I knew the chemistry discourse community here at UC Davis was quite large, but I never
imagined it was broad as it is. A chemistry major, or a chemistry professor are the obvious ones.
They become a part of the community by showing interest in the topic, and dedicating their lifes
goal to achieving the overall goal of the chemistry discourse community. A chemistry major here
at UC Davis became a part of the community the moment they accepted admission having
decided chemistry is what they want to work with for the rest of their lives, and UC Davis was
the right place to accomplish that. They interact with the community by learning the concepts to
apply later in their careers. Professors also joined the community when they were students, but
are now interacting by passing the knowledge around to current students; they are the experts of
the community. Their main method of communication is lecture presentations and notes. By
going to class, students can visually see and then jot down any concepts the professor brings up
so they can study later. In a very similar manner to professors, TAs are a part of the chemistry
discourse community as well. A professor cant deal with 1,000 students alone, so the TAs are
there to back them up. They serve as a more accessible expert to beginners in the community;
they already have gone through extensive years of education, and therefore know a lot of the
concepts. TAs are also liaisons; they communicate between the professors and the students. For
example, if there is a specific assignment professors want their students to do, TAs can more
effectively communicate to their group of students what it is the professors want and the students
as other science majors who must take chemistry as one of their courses for their own major.
Their goal coming to UC Davis wasnt exactly the same as that of a chemistry major, but they
are also working towards it indirectly. For example, a person taking biology, but who also has to
take chemistry to eventually become a bio major, is part of the chemistry discourse community.
They accepted admission to UC Davis working towards the objective of a bio major, but in
taking chemistry courses, they also need to understand the concepts (which is the goal of a
chemistry discourse community), and then apply them to their own majors; theres a reason why
most other science majors need chemistry but chemistry doesnt require other sciences--
chemistry is a fundamental science. For example, glucose is a very famous term used in biology.
But a biologist cannot fully understand what glucose is and how its formed without
understanding its molecular composition and geometry. Another big one is photosynthesis; the
glucose, and oxygen. While it may just seem that theyre applying biology concepts, chemistry is
there too. Mabel Yuan is an Environmental Science major who also must take chemistry to
complete her major requirements. When interviewing her, her response was Both general
chemistry and organic chemistry are two important requirements for biological science majors. It
wouldn't be possible to get a degree in my major without fulfilling these two series of
chemistry. Because they both are taking chemistry courses even though they are not directly
As one can see, the chemistry discourse community is a vast community at UC Davis.
There are so many people involved in it, directly or indirectly, but are still part of the community
regardless.