ChemEd 2023

In 2023, ChemEd wll be hosted by the University of Guelph. The conference will take place on campus allowing for hands-on labs, workshops, and demonstrations, along with a variety of events focused on teaching chemistry. It is a chance to be part of a community of dedicated and involved science educators. Reach out to us via email and/or Twitter.

This biennial conference is the largest in North America for educators involved in teaching high school and introductory chemistry. It is an opportunity for educators to gather for five days to learn and exchange their teaching ideas in a friendly and motivating environment. In recent years, the conference attendance has ranged from 400 to 800 educators.

ChemEd 2023 will be the 50th anniversary for ChemEd and be hosted by the University of Guelph, returning to Canada where it began in 1973. The first ChemEd was held at the University of Waterloo and has matured having established many ChemEd traditions, such as the Reg Friesen lecture, an ice cream social, children/family program, Mole Day breakfast and Mole Stroll/Run. The end-of-conference celebration showcasing the hosting community was a tradition that began in its inaugural year.

ChemEd 2023 is taking place at the University of Guelph, which is located within the Between the Lakes Purchase (Treaty 3), the treaty lands and territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit. We acknowledge that Guelph resides within the territory encompassed in the Dish With One Spoon Covenant.  This land is home to many past, present, and future First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.  We commit to protecting and respecting the land on which we gather today, as well as the history and rights of our local Indigenous communities to this land.  We commit to respecting the Indigenous communities residing here, and to speak out against the injustices against Indigenous communities in Canada.

We are dedicated to embedding Indigenous-centered content into this year’s ChemEd. We plan to open each plenary session with an Indigenous perspective and a full-day offering of the Indigenous Chemistry Symposium. It is important for us to weave Indigenous content as part of the plenary sessions attended by most participants. Much of the calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) directly address levels of government. But with the lack of progress on achieving the goals of the TRC, we think that as settler citizens, we must take action to advance Reconciliation. Specifically, our development of Indigenization Perspectives at ChemEd would target the following:

• Calls to Action 62 (Provide the necessary funding to post-secondary institutions to educate teachers on integrating Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms. Provide the necessary funding to Aboriginal schools to utilize Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods in classrooms.) and
• Calls to Action 63 (Building student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect.)

We encourage you to take this opportunity to learn more about the land you are on and which communities are still living as part of your community. As land cannot be returned meaningfully, supporting local groups, whether financially or by amplifying their requests to the local government, can support a return to self-determination. Reflecting on how you can work towards advancing the process of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 calls to action is one of the many ways to provide support.