CHEM 101 - Introductory Chemistry
Welcome to the class!
I'm Dr. Raeanne Napoleon and I will be your instructor. I am a Assistant Professor of Chemistry and this is my 8th year at Santa Barbara City College. I’ve been teaching at the college level since 2004. I am also the Academic Senate President here at SBCC and the Department Chair of Chemistry.
I am an east coast transplant who moved to Santa Barbara, California in 2012. After growing up in Rochester, NY, I moved to Philadelphia to attend the University of the Sciences. I lived and learned there for 6 years and consider Philly to be the greatest city in the world. I moved to Boston after Philadelphia to attend Boston University for my graduate work and it's there that I starting riding and racing bicycles, while completing my PhD in theoretical physical chemistry. Though some days it feels like I have this teaching chemistry thing figured out, I am constantly trying to improve my teaching. I try my best to center my chemistry curriculum around making chemistry accessible to everyone and demystifying science.
I'm also a mom, a wife, an activist, and covered in tattoos.
What is CHEM 101?
This course serves as an introduction to the subject of chemistry and the chemical laboratory. Everyone who enrolls in this course has the goal of learning chemistry and there are many ways to be successful in this course. This course is recommended for a preparatory course for CHEM 155 or for non-science majors as a science with a laboratory component. You may not think of yourself as a scientists (or "not good at science") when you start this class, but success will happen for you when you create a new identity for yourself and one that is in contrast of the one that you built for yourself or that others have built for you. The chemical and physical sciences have flourished in the last 100 years and further advances in science and technology will continue to have profound impacts on society. Students require an understanding of modern chemistry to become engaged, informed citizens and competent, confident professionals. You are all capable of learning chemistry and I am excited to be part of you realizing that.
Please know: Being proficient in high school algebra is necessary for this course.