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Counted Out

The film Counted Out shows us the power of math in our society, our economy, and our democracy. At 7:00pm on March 31st in Maxey Hall on the Whitman College Campus in Walla Walla, WA, the Whitman College Department of Mathematics & Statistics will take part in Counted Out’s worldwide movement to re-imagine math with a free screening of the award winning film Counted Out. In our current information economy, math is everywhere. The people we date, the news we see, the influence of our votes, the candidates who win elections, the education we have access to, the jobs we get — all of it is underwritten by an invisible layer of math that few of us understand, or even notice. But whether we know it or not, our numeric literacy — whether we can speak the language of math — is a critical determinant of social and economic power. Counted Out shows what’s at risk if we keep the status quo. Do we want an America in which most of us don’t see ourselves “math people”? Where math proficiency go...
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Grad School, Conferences, and Networking 101

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  On Monday, March 3 at 4 pm in Olin 201 Madeleine Sherry ’24 will talk about her experience going to a math conference as an undergrad at Whitman, the importance of networking in developing ideas, finding potential career paths, and creating connections, as well as my insight into grad school life and the application/decision process. There will be plenty of time to answer questions, so hopefully, this session will be helpful to any students interested in pursuing further education or getting ready for what comes next after graduation! Bio:  Madeleine Sherry ’24 is currently a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in statistics at Oregon State University. Madeleine majored in Mathematics and minored in German Studies and Data Science during her time at Whitman College. She was also a part of the women’s lacrosse team and served as the captain of the team her senior year.  Beyond athletics, Madeleine was a Delta Gamma sorority member and was part of Whitman's Pa...
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Communicating Statistically

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  On Monday, February 24 at 4pm in Olin 201 Benjamin Seashore Hobson ’23 will talk about communicating statistically, as he does in his job as a player development analyst with the New York Mets. Benji works with the rest of the Mets analytics team to perform data-driven research to find opportunities for improvement for players within the Mets organization and then collaborates with coaches and player development leadership to incorporate those findings into individual player plans. He will share examples of how he shares statistical insights with coaches and players with a broad range of statistics and data knowledge levels. Benji will also discuss how his time at Whitman prepared him to both perform data analysis and communicate with a diverse set of teammates.   Bio:  Benjamin Seashore Hobson ’23 is currently a player development analyst for the New York Mets. He majored in Mathematics and minored in Gender Studies and Hispanic Studies during his time at Whitman Coll...
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Chaos is not Random

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  On M onday, February 10 at 4pm in Olin 201 Dr. Andrés Aragoneses will talk about how chaos is a relatively recent field of research that merges topics as diverse as mathematics, biology, physics, astronomy, economics, and geology. It encompasses phenomena ranging from avalanches in piles of sand to population dynamics, virus propagation, soccer strategies, stock market fluctuations, laser oscillations, and the dynamics of particles in Saturn’s rings. Chaos is not randomness, though it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between the two. In this presentation, he will explore how chaos can be simulated, the physical systems in which it can be found, how mathematical techniques can be developed to characterize and unveil hidden symmetries in chaotic behaviour, and how universality patterns can be discovered within chaos.   BIO: Andrés Aragoneses conducts experimental research in photonics and complex dynamics. In his experimental setups, known as Photonic Neurons, he ind...
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Diophantus and Arabic Algebra

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  On M onday, February 3 at 4pm in Olin 201 Dr. Matt Petersen will talk about how in 1842 the Orientalist G.H.F. Nesselmann identified three stages in the progressive development of algebra: 1) Rhetorical algebra, in which problems are stated and solved in words. 2) Syncopated algebra, in which abbreviations are used in the place of words. Finally, 3) at the highest level, a fully symbolic algebra, in which words are entirely replaced with symbols and general numeric claims can be formed. There are numerous problems with this eurocentric history of mathematics (though it remains popular) but one of the most critical is that it treats algebra itself as an unproblematic object, and thus blinds us to deep differences in the discipline called algebra, whether the algebra is written in words (as was standard in Islamic mathematical texts), in abbreviations (as in Diophantus,or Tartaglia), or in a fully syncopated algebra, as was used for calculations by Islamic mathematicians from the M...
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What the Health (is an Actuary)?

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Catherine Lewis M onday, December 9 at 4pm in Olin 201 Abstract: Actuary is a consistently top-ranked job with no graduate school requirements! If that got your attention, join me for a discussion on the role of actuaries in health insurance. I will share my career trajectory and provide insights into the world of actuarial science. Through examples and case studies, I will illustrate the importance of actuarial science in shaping healthcare decision-making. Whether you're a student considering a career in actuarial science or a just interested in learning more about careers that use math, this talk is sure to provide you with valuable free pizza.   BIO: Catherine Lewis '08 is currently a Senior Actuary at Cambia Health Solutions. After completing a double major in Applied Mathematics and Physics-Astronomy from Whitman College, she worked in various actuarial roles at Cambia Health Solutions and Milliman. With expertise in Medicare Advantage and Medicaid lines of business, Cat...
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Shoelaces in the 4th Dimension: An Introduction to Low-Dimensional Topology

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Monday, December 2 at 4pm in Olin 201.  Malcolm Gabbard, almost-PhD, graduate student at Kansas State University will talk about topics in low-dimensional topology.  Topology is a large field of mathematics which centers around creating spaces from sets and then considering deformations of these spaces. In this talk we will introduce some foundational definitions and results you would find in an introduction to topology class. With this foundation we will build up to modern questions in low-dimensional topology. In particular, we will learn what knots in the 4th dimension are, how we can visualize them, and why we should care. Math-interested students should find this talk accessible. BIO:  Malcolm Gabbard is a PhD student in his 6th year at Kansas State University studying low-dimensional topology and knot theory. His research centers around symmetries of 2-dimensional surfaces in 4-dimensional manifolds, as well as tabulation of knot invariants. Malcolm was an unde...
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