Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Coordinator of Peer Tutoring
Education
Ph.D., M.S., Northwestern University
A.B., University of California, Berkeley
About
Main Interests
Exploring geometry. Learning connections between math and other fields, especially art, and having “that is so cool!” moments. Learning how people learn. Volunteering as a tutor. Talking about things mathematical and not-mathematical with my husband. Reading (mostly mysteries), gardening, exercising.
Teaching Interests
Teaching my students how to read, learn, and do mathematics. I try to have them actually do some math during nearly every class meeting, rather than simply listening to me lecturing the whole time. I also often have the students solve relatively realistic, open-ended problems and describe their solutions in everyday language.
Student Projects
In Fall 2018, I am advising a student’s Honors Thesis, on the connection between gerrymandering and math: not at all in my area, but I hope to learn it with them.
I assign projects in many of my classes. In Math and Art, the students choose between a number of projects: some involve creating art using mathematical concepts, others involve analyzing existing art mathematically, and a few involve writing reaction papers to articles or books. In Euclidean and Non-Euclidean Geometry, students have individual extended projects working through a geometric topic, writing a paper and presenting on it at the end of the term. In Abstract Algebra, the students have individual semester-long projects to help make the material more concrete.
Research Interests
For my dissertation, I studied Commutative Ring Theory and Homological Algebra. Now, I’m spending time learning non-Euclidean geometry, and exploring the connections between math and art, as I mentioned earlier.
