In the 1980s, actor Billy Dee Williams made his debut as the fictional character Lando Calrissian in the films The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and the Return of the Jedi (1983). Williams’ portrayal as Calrissian was certainly a significant milestone for an African American actor with a prominent role in the highly successful films created by George Lucas. The Calrissian character also appeared in Solo: A Star Wars Story in 2018 and was portrayed by actor Danny Glover.

During the past few years I have been thinking about the way that students record laboratory information.

We are excited to announce that our next IONiC/VIPEr summer workshop will be deep in the heart of Texas! This workshop will be held at the University of Texas – Arlington in Arlington, TX, from June 1-4, 2020.

Happy New Year! The IONiC Community has decided to celebrate by holding a LO writing party. On January 8, 2020, from 9 AM - 6 PM (eastern) join us on Discord to work on LOs. There are lots of options to choose from.

One of the beautiful things about being on educational leave (my institution’s word for sabbatical) is that I have more time to browse the literature. Last week, I was catching up on the Journal of Chemical Education and discovered an ASAP article on connecting organic concepts with real-world contexts by creating infographics.

Hello VIPEr Community! 

The Leadership Council of the Interactive Online Network of Inorganic Chemists (IONiC) is reaching out to inorganic chemistry professors to better understand the curriculum of postsecondary inorganic chemistry laboratory courses.

I am planning a symposium for the 2021 Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting, which will be held in early June, 2021, at the University of Delaware.  The symposium's goal is to highlight several "Early Career" faculty working either in the field of inorganic chemistry and/or catalysis.  I would like to include a speaker or two from a PUI.  If you fit this discription, or know of someone who does who would like to be invited, please let me know!  You can email me directly: wfarrell@usna.edu

IONiC now has a chat space to support more informal, community-building, project implementation communication! 

Unless you've spent the past few days under a rock, grading a pile of exams, or overhauling your institution's general education program, you have probably already heard about the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. 

The Division of Inorganic Chemistry has provided support for a symposium focused on Advanced Teaching in Inorganic Chemistry at the spring ACS meeting in Philadelphia (March 22-26, 2019). Bringing many voices from diverse institutions will generate a valuable exchange of innovative pedagogic ideas and recognize the incredible creativity involved with our teaching. We welcome submissions from the undergraduate or graduate level, submissions of new lecture/discussion activities, laboratory experiences, or research-based projects.