Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Facilitating Pre-Service Teachers To Engage Emergent Bilinguals In Productive Struggle, Benjamin T. Dickey, Jim Ewing, Melissa Caruso, Emily D. Fulmer

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

This study utilized a multiple case study with qualitative research to examine how Pre-service teachers (PSTs) might engage Emergent Bilinguals (EBs) in productive struggle—grappling to solve problems (Warshauer, 2015). The researchers created a rubric based on Warshauer’s (2015) case study to record the types of questions PSTs asked as they tutored fourth grade EBs. Warshauer (2015) claimed PSTs should allow students more wait time and ask questions. She referred to such questions as affordance and probing guidance, which facilitates productive struggle. In order to discover more about the PSTs’ thinking, the researchers interviewed the PSTs before and after their first, …

An Examination Of The Death Penalty, Alexandra N. Kremer

The Downtown Review

The death penalty, or capital punishment, is the use of execution through hanging, beheading, drowning, gas chambers, lethal injection, and electrocution among others in response to a crime. This has spurred much debate on whether it should be used for reasons such as ethics, revenge, economics, effectiveness as a deterrent, and constitutionality. Capital punishment has roots that date back to the 18^th century B.C., but, as of 2016, has been abolished in law or practice by more than two thirds of the world’s countries and several states within the United States. Here, the arguments for and against the death …

Elaia 2018, Stephen Case

ELAIA

Volume 1

Over the years, the Program has continued to grow and flourish, and the depth of its research continues to increase. This inaugural journal represents the fruits of that development, containing capstone research projects from the 2018 Honors Program senior class and their faculty mentors. The Table of Contents is diverse, and in that way it is a crystal clear reflection of our program’s community of scholars.

I, along with the members of the Honors Council, am gratified by the work of each student and faculty mentor printed within these pages. Congratulations, everyone!

- Stephen Lowe, Honors Program Director

Minerva 2018, The Honors College

Minerva

This issue of Minerva includes an article on the Honors Endeavor by recently retired faculty member, David Gross; an adaptation of Isaac Record's 2018 Distinguished Honors Graduate lecture; an article on 2018 Honors Read Just Mercy; and a wonderful farewell to beloved Honors College Administrative Specialist, Deb Small. Other highlights include a reflection by CLAS-Honors preceptor of philosophy, Hao Hong; and a look into 2018-2019 student thesis research.

The Battle Between Impeccable Intonation And Maximized Modulation, Timothy M. True

Musical Offerings

Equal temperament represents a way of completing the musical circle, and systematically compensating for the Pythagorean comma. Pythagoras discovered this acoustical problem around 550 B.C., and since that time music theorists have debated how to deal with it. The problem is that no perfect solution exists—something must be compromised. As musical styles developed, specific factors and harmonic tendencies led to the gradual adoption of equal temperament. Early in music history, theorists preferred systems which kept acoustical purity relatively intact. Pythagorean intonation and just intonation serve as two examples. However, the move from modality to tonality decentralized the melody as the …

A Field Guide For Weathering: Embodied Tactics For Collectives Of Two Or More Humans, Jennifer Mae Hamilton, Astrida Neimanis

The Goose

In our inherited meteorological practices and frameworks, weather conditions are managed for us in a range of ways (for example, through architecture, technology, commodity culture, infrastructure, economic rationale). This field guide brings the weather back to the body. A traditional field guide provides tools for the individual sovereign human subject to observe and document nature “over there”. In contrast, through a range of different activities, our field guide not only invites investigation and cataloguing of the field that we also comprise, but also challenges what counts as a noteworthy observation regarding the weather and also climate.

Sea Squad, Liam Geary Baulch

The Goose

The Sea Squad is a band of cheerleaders against climate change. Taking action as a team in formation, they gather momentum, inviting all people to cheer with them, mimicking the infinitely expandable nature of the seas' molecular structure. The work was developed and performed as a bilingual project at Est-Nord-Est in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec, Canada, and has since been performed and exhibited internationally. The following poems are some of the chants that Sea Squad use to get a crowd cheering together against climate change.

Totality In Carbondale, Grant Haynes

The Hilltop Review

August 21 was one of the high points of 2017. That day a total solar eclipse tracked over much of the continental U.S. An early morning train ride brought me to Carbondale Illinois, the location of the eclipses longest duration. As totality neared clouds obscured this amazing celestial wonder, but they soon parted, and I was able to get a few spectacular photos of the eclipse, this one with the clouds that almost ruined it, is my favorite.

Frontiers For Young Minds: Call For Contributions, Jeremy L. Martin

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Frontiers for Young Minds, available at https://kids.frontiersin.org/, is a free, open-access scientific journal with articles written by scientists with an audience of children and young teens (ages 8-15). A distinctive feature of the journal is that submitted articles are reviewed not by the author's peers, but by kids themselves, working under the guidance of experts. The mathematics community is invited to submit articles, both on original research and on classic topics.

When Mercy Seasons Justice, Basant K B

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This is based on the simple mathematical concept of ratio, which tends to get more intricate the more one thinks about it.

The Rubbish Researchers Puzzle, Michael W. Lucht

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The Rubbish Researchers Puzzle is a humorous short story about the Blue-Eyed Islanders Puzzle, cultural insensitivity in logic problems, and the quality of research.

A Mother's Math Is Never Done, Gizem Karaali

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Untitled, Marion D. Cohen

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Mathematical Motherhood, Marylesa Howard

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Breastmilk And Theorems, Bonnie Jacob

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Breastmilk and Theorems is a poem that traces a mother’s journey breastfeeding her baby over the course of the baby’s first months of life, while mentally working on proving a theorem.

Wondering, Joanne Growney

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This 15-line poem speaks of the ways that motherhood (in contrast with fatherhood) might limit creativity and publication. The lines of the poem have syllable counts that follow the Fibonacci Numbers: 1-1-2-3-5-8-13-21-13-8-5-3-2-1-1.

Super Mamas: A Real Life Story Of Everyday Super Heroes, Emille Lawrence

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Bridging the gap between the world of motherhood and the world of academia can seem like a heroic feat. This essay acknowledges and celebrates a community of super women doing this every day. The Math Mamas Facebook group was formed in 2016 and today boasts over five hundred members. It provides its members a platform to commiserate about the challenges and celebrate the wins, big or small, whichever is appropriate whenever.

Balancing An Academic Career In Mathematics With Motherhood And Life's Other Passions, Deena R. Schmidt

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

I became a mother while a postdoctoral fellow, and solved my two-body problem shortly thereafter becoming a tenure-track professor in mathematics and statistics. My plan to have a second child came with an unexpected bonus: I had identical twin girls, and this happened during my second year on the tenure-track. Finding anything resembling a work-life balance has been extremely challenging since then. Many days I struggle just to cover the basics at work and home, let alone finding time for other passions in life --- in my case, dance has been my creative outlet since childhood and an essential part …

Optimizing Maternal And Tenure Clocks: A Mathematical Proof, Tara T. Craig

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This essay shares my journey to solving the problem of timing, specifically as it applies to having a child on my journey towards a career as a mathematician in academia. I share some of the challenges I faced during pregnancy and the first few years of motherhood, which coincided with my first few years as an assistant professor of mathematics.

College Dropout To College Professor, Deborah L. Gochenaur, Rose I. Verbos

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Being a college dropout wasn’t something to be proud of; it just happened. Life doesn’t always turn out the way we want or expect. Yet, it is often how we deal with defeat that defines us – figuring out when to lick our wounds and when to come back fighting. It took a few years to redefine my dream, start a family, and seem to move forward, but the ache for more was always in the back of my mind. Could I succeed at something at which I had already failed? Going back to school at a community college at …

Rational Points On Surfaces And In Life, Amanda Knecht

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This essay collects together examples of instances where I should have advocated for myself more as a mother and examples of how I have advocated for my children. Theses stories come from a mathematician who gave birth to two children while on the tenure track in an older department with only one tenured woman.

Four Times Exceptional: Reflections On Motherhood And Teaching College Mathematics, Maria Fung

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This essay discusses the challenges of mothering four very different children--one adopted, one gifted, one anxious and one dyslexic child--and the impact of this experience on teaching mathematics at the college level.

Arrival At The Same Point: My Long, Winding, And Not-So-Circular Path To Professor, Melissa B. Hanzsek-Brill

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This is my story of the constant struggle between wanting both mathematics and motherhood, and realizing I could have it all but not all at once.The story involves earning degrees, securing a tenure-track position only to resign two years later, and then, through a gauntlet of adjunct and fixed-term positions, applying for and accepting another tenure-track position at the same institution, finally arriving back at the same point on the path I had been on sixteen years earlier. I walked this long, winding, and ultimately no-so-circular path while becoming and being a mother of four. It is my hope that …

Mommy Brain And The Mommy Mathematician, Bonnie Jacob

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Is mommy brain real? Are pregnant women and mothers ditzier than non-mothers? If mommy brain is a real phenomenon, what are the implications for women mathematicians whose careers depend on their mental agility? While anecdotes and references to the phenomenon in pop culture abound, concrete evidence is decidedly murky. In this article, I discuss some of the recent research on so-called mommy brain. I delve into the implications of its alleged existence, particularly for mother-mathematicians. I include perspectives of several mother-mathematicians on the consequences of mommy brain … or its perceived existence.

Don't Ask The Baby To Do Calculus: Thoughts From An Early-Career Math Mama, Caitlin Krul

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

I very recently became a math mama. In my desperate search for patterns and structure in those first few weeks, my husband told me, "She's only three weeks old; we can't expect her to be doing calculus homework." I suppose he was right. I am working towards tenure and finding a new balance between teaching and family, all while trying to not lose sight of who I am. My personal challenges range from the logistics of being a nursing mother in a shared office to feelings of being seen as less adequate in my job if I present myself as …

So, Your Mom Wants To Be A Mathematician, Edie Stevens

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Despite all the stereotypes about them, mothers possess a skill set that makes them outstanding potential mathematicians. Most are organized, detail oriented, driven, determined, effective communicators; they are able to break down any concept or task into its principal components, and they can be logical and persuasive even when addressing the most formidable and unwilling audience. In short, no matter how messy, difficult, or tedious the task at hand, moms excel at getting the job done. This is my affirming story of how I left my engineering career to raise a family and returned to academia to pursue a doctoral …

Motherhood And Teaching: Radical Care, Ksenija Simic-Muller

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This essay is a personal reflection on how I leverage my positioning as a caregiver in my roles of a mathematician, teacher, and mother, to advance a vision for a more just and equitable society. I argue that care at home and in the classroom takes similar forms, and can be liberating instead of oppressive.

From Ecstasy To Agony And Back: Mathematics, Motherhood, And Postpartum Depression, Azadeh Rafizadeh

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

In this essay I address some challenges I had to overcome as a non-tenured mathematician mother married to another mathematician. While some of these challenges, such as lack of sleep, were predictable, many were not. For example, I was not aware that just getting pregnant would be a difficulty. Also, I did not know how paralyzing postpartum depression could be. Looking back on these experiences after a few years, I have a new perspective. I share my experiences, feelings about them, and some of the ways I figured out to overcome the hardships I experienced.

The Grieving Mathematician And Mother, Kimberly A. Roth

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Grieving while teaching and researching is a tricky task. Support from the local community and from the larger mathematical community were important after my son Drew’s death. In this essay I describe my motherhood and grief journeys and how they intersected with my career, and also offer suggestions for others supporting parents in similar situations.

Finding Hope Amidst The Pain Of Pregnancy Loss, Jessica Oshaughnessy

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Pregnancy does not come easily to all women. This story shares my personal struggles with early miscarriage and second trimester losses and the struggle to balance grief in a professional setting.