Author Archives: annahaensch

Teaching Offline

I’m in Bagamoyo, Tanzania at the moment teaching two summer courses to a group of undergraduate students at Marian University College. This experience is different from my typical teaching experience along several dimensions. I am teaching Complex Analysis to a … Continue reading

Posted in Issues in Higher Education, Math Education | Tagged | 1 Comment

Summer Time is Puzzle Time

It’s Mid-May, that means it time to put away your serious things and time to start thinking about (what else?) math puzzles! Alexander Bogomolny, of CutTheKnotMath, has curated an amazing collection of math puzzles, problems, and interactive lessons. I always … Continue reading

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Arts And Crafts Night

This week I rounded up several of my colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics for a night of mathematically inspired paper crafts from the website cutoutfoldup.com. The website site features an impressive collection of “interesting things to make … Continue reading

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Radical Notation

There was one day in my life when I got a standing ovation in a calculus class. I’ll admit, it was an extra special group of students who were prone to spontaneous outbursts of enthusiasm. Business Calc, amiright? But it … Continue reading

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Family Math With The Lawlers

When I watch videos of Mike Lawler teaching math to his sons it makes me want to be a better teacher. Lawler, a mathematician by training and former academic, started Mikesmathpage to chronicle his lessons in homeschooling his kids, and … Continue reading

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Some Math About Guns

Turns out it can be really difficult to understand our collective relationship to guns, gun violence, and gun control. What seems to be obvious to some, runs completely counter to others. This was illustrated nowhere better than in the recent … Continue reading

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Are Smart Cities Really That Smart?

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of science fiction, and also a lot of articles about smart cities. And the two seem to be converging to a single point. I’m not entirely sure what “smart city” means as a term … Continue reading

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The NSF Gets Serious And #MeToo

It looks like the NSF is finally getting serious about its stance on researching funding and harassment in the sciences. Two years ago in January 2016, in an official statement, the NSF threatened to pull funding from Universities that didn’t … Continue reading

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On Seashells, Spirals, and Solids

Recently, a friend sent me a link to the drawing Fibonacci Dodecahedron by the Venezuelan artist Rafael Araujo. I found it quite beautiful but was immediately skeptical of the words Fibonacci and dodecahedron appearing together. It’s no secret that I … Continue reading

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Elevating The Art Of Math(s) Communication

The 2018 Joint Meetings are just around the corner, and lots of great stuff is going on in San Diego. There will be lectures on current events in math, panels and sessions highlighting inclusion in the field and on January … Continue reading

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