Math Events

SPRING 2018 EVENTS

MATH FORUM—Mathematical Typesetting with LaTeX

Thursday, February 8th
KOSC 118, 12–1 p.m.

Join senior Ethan Kang to learn about making your mathematics beautiful using the standard for mathematical typesetting, LaTeX!  Especially encouraged for juniors and seniors.

MATH FORUM—Dual Numbers and Automatic Differentiation

Looking for a "Buy One, Get One" opportunity in mathematics? Come to this math forum about a technique for deep learning that also brings you the value of f'(x) whenever you know the value of f(x).

Tuesday, February 20th
Jenks 114, 12–1 p.m.

Dr. Senning

MATH FORUM—Let the Data Do the Talking: Empirical Bayes Classifiers and Behavioral Advertising

Tuesday, March 6th
KOSC 126, 4:45–5:45 p.m.

Retailers seek to classify people based on their web browsing behavior, demographic characteristics, etc. This talk looks at this "classification problem" to illustrate how having lots of data has changed the decision sciences. How do we use probability to solve these practical problems?

Dr. Veatch

Departmental Convocation

Friday, March 23
KOSC 124, 10:25–11:10 a.m.

Join other mathematics and computer science students for a time of fellowship, worship, prayer, fun, reflection, and looking forward. As always, there will be worship and/or a brief message of reflection.

MATH FORUM—Infinity and Beyond

Tuesday, March 27th
Jenks 220, 12 noon

Dr. Lauren Sager '11, Visiting Prof. at St. Anselm College

Eighth Annual North Shore Undergraduate Mathematics Conference

Saturday, April 7th
Merrimack College, roughly 9:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.

A fun team competition, math coloring, and student talks from all over New England! The invited speaker this year is Dr. Lauren Sager (Gordon '11). Conference website

MATH FORUM—Math, Faith, History, and Beyond

Thursday, April 12th
Noon, Jenks 220, Axiomatics and Faith

4:45 p.m., MacDonald 131, Sonya, Karl and Fyodor: Intellectual life in Europe during the last half of the 19th century

Robert Brabenec, Professor at Wheaton College (IL) will give us two talks on mathematics, faith, and history - and their interplay.  Contact math faculty for the chance to see him in guest lectures in various courses as well!

SELECTED 2017 EVENTS

MATH FORUM—Tenzi, Risk, and some beautiful probability

Tuesday, March 7th
KOSC 124, 4:45–5:45 p.m.

TENZI is supposed to be "the world's fastest game." What does that mean? Just how fast can you win? And how does probability fit in here? Dr. Veatch will wow you with computations and dice in this special talk.

MATH FORUM—Amicable Numbers

Thursday, April 27th
MacDonald Hall, 12–1 p.m.

A perfect number is one whose (proper) divisors add up to itself. But what if a number's divisors add up to a number whose divisors add up to the first number? Dr. Stout is very friendly, and so are these numbers he will speak about. Come join us to learn more about them!

SYMPOSIUM 2017—The Reformation and... Mathematics?

Thursday, May 4th
KOSC 126, 10–11 p.m.

Other than this being the 2^2 * 5^3 anniversary of the Reformation, what connections might a theological and cultural shift have to do with mathematics? It turns out, more than you think! From Jesuits using math to bring Poland back into the Catholic sphere, to Christian mathematicians battling the Enlightenment, to more recent four-dimensional thoughts of religion and mathematics... Come to hear about some surprising, entertaining, and enjoyable connections between the changes the Reformation brought and the math that describes the world around us.

MATH/CS COOKOUT AND VOLLEYBALL GAME—First social event!

September 5th, early evening, Professor Tuck's house (see faculty for more info)

The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science has a long-standing tradition of hosting a welcome picnic for freshmen and returning students. Be ready to vie for the Math vs. CS volleyball crown!

RSVP: TBD, but you must reply to get a ride (though you can also easily walk there).

CONFERENCES

Mathematics Association of America Conference

This is the big fall New England conference, with great invited talks, student team math competition, opportunities to share your own work, and a banquet. Typically the weekend before Thanksgiving. In 2015, Gordon hosted over 150 visitors for the conference right here in the Ken Olsen Science Center!

(For summer research students, there is also a spring version usually in late May or early June.)

North Shore Undergraduate Mathematics Conference

This conference began with a fun team math competition between Salem State and Gordon and has blossomed into an annual local conference with student talks from all over Eastern New England, invited speakers, and more! Usually in April.

Joint Mathematics Meetings

The largest annual gathering of mathematicians in the world, the Joint Meetings has a wealth of talks from high-level research to student poster sessions, panels on pedagogy, and interactive art or the booths in the exhibit hall. Gordon annually has between three and eight representatives (including faculty, students, and alumni); many summer research students will present here. A highlight is the ACMS reception and dinner, which has a speaker relating a short talk connecting our faith with our mathematical passion.

Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences Conference

This conference began in the late 1970s with our own Dr. Stout as one of the first attendees. It is a biannual conference of Christian mathematicians and computer scientists, which now has criss-crossed North America, most recently in Charleston, South Carolina and before that in Ancaster, Ontario. Gordon hosted the conference in 1999, and we take students as often as they are available and the conference is in the Northeastern United States.

MATH FORUM GENERAL INFORMATION

Gordon College's Math Forum is a bi-weekly gathering of mathematically-inclined people from all over campus. The format ranges from problem-solving to guest speakers from the industry, to special talks about interesting topics or people in mathematics. Math Forum has typically been on Tuesdays or Thursdays at noon or at 4:45 p.m.

Students, please let us know if there are other events or topics you would enjoy! To give you ideas, some Math Forum speakers and other events from the past are listed below. 

• Mathematics and Faith Seminar—Led by math faculty
• Welcome to the Fourth Dimension!—Dr. Satyan Devadoss, Williams College
• Coordinating Revenue Management Decisions in Airline Alliances—Prof. Robert Shumsky of Dartmouth, Tuck Business School
• The Mysterious Connection between Voting and Statistics—Sarah Berube (student)
• Origami: How to Do Math Without Scissors or Glue—Dr. Thomas Hull, Western New England College
• Summer Research Report (offered many times)—Wesley Nelson, Rachel Olugbemi, Jess Wild, Leah Miller, Luke Cui, Sunny Kim,... and many others!
• Using LaTeX—Lauren Meitzler and Maya Bam (students)
• The Futurama Theorem—Prof. Dana Ernst of Plymouth State University, NH
• "Old School" Graphing in Polar Coordinates—Dr. Senning
• Bringing Math to Inner City Schools—Prof. Robert Case of Northeastern University
• Color and Facial Perception and the Mathematics of Voting—Dr. Crisman, joint with CIPHER seminar
• Amicable Numbers—What are they?—Dr. Stout
• Connecting Voting Theory and Graph Theory—Dr. Crisman
• Fractals and the Liberal Arts—Students from MAT 353 Real Analysis
• What is Topology?—Gordon alumnus and Colby College professor Scott Taylor
• Visual Algebra—Dr. Nathan Carter, Bentley University
• Integration Bee—moderated by Dr. Veatch
• Introduction to Sage—Dr. Crisman
• Saving Lives by Bringing Applied Math and Operations Research Scholarship into Action—Dr. Prashant Yadev, MIT-Zaragoza International Logistics Program
• Humanitarian Logistics—Dr. Jarrod Goentzel, MIT
• Using Simulations to Guide the Reform of Boston School Assignments—Peng Shi, MIT
• What is Numerical Analysis, Anyway?—Dr. Senning
• The Nature of Craftsmanship in Mathematics and Computer Science—Prof. Greg Crow, Point Loma Nazarene University
• Math in the Real World—Mike Ahearn, Vice President for Finance and Administration
• Why are the lines in Lane so long? An Introduction to Queuing Theory—Jane Eisenhauer and Stephen Rizzo (students)
• Intro to Math Circles—Dr. Crisman
• What do Math Majors Do After Gordon?—Recent Alumni
• Sudoku and Graphs—Jeffrey Fraser (student)
• Happy Birthday, Euler! From Graphs to the Fields Medal—Dr. Crisman
• Don't Forget to Check Your Digits—Symposium 2007 "Authenticity"—talk by students about check digits
• Dodgson's Method in Voting—Dr. Tommy Ratliff, Wheaton College (MA)
• Math Awareness Month Talk: What Makes Your Vote Matter—Dr. Crisman with Dr. Brink and Dr. Melkonian-Hoover from Political Science
• Joint with Health Professions Seminar—Dr. Kim Pearson of Harvard School of Public Health on biostatistics and testing for gene links to disease
• Joint with CS and Chemistry/Physics Senior Seminar—Dr. Michael Orrison of Harvey Mudd College on applications of matrix representations