Author Archives: kthompson

Offensive Words/Phrases: Who Should Know Better?

Required reading for any academic is Philip Roth’s “The Human Stain.” In the first few pages an older, tenured professor is “forced to retire.” Why? There were two students who never were present when he called roll. Even after roll … Continue reading

Posted in attracting math majors, books, funny things students say, math in the media, minorities in mathematics, outreach, public awareness of mathematics, social aspects of math life, Social situations with students | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Offensive Words/Phrases: Who Should Know Better?

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

How do you determine whether or not to attend a particular conference? As a working example to see through to natural generalizations, let’s use the JMM. [Just to choose a conference we’ve all heard of, attend at least once in … Continue reading

Posted in balancing research and teaching, collaborations, conferences, joint math meetings, networking, reimbursements, research, time management, traveling, workshops | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Should I Stay or Should I Go?