Lunch in the Time of Covid - 2020 Archives
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2020 Events
“How to give a good math talk” (Thursday, December 3, 2020 at 1:30PM EST / 10:30AM PST)
Panelists: Ram Murty (Queen’s University), Katherine Stange (University of Colorado, Boulder), John Voight (Dartmouth College)
Zoom registration (this and any links below are now obsolete)
Notes are available upon request - contact the organizers for access
Extra links:
“Ten Lessons I Wish I Had Been Taught” by Gian-Carlo Rota
(Former panelist) Ravi Vakil’s “Three Things” exercise (aka how to get things out of talks)
Happy hour in the time of Covid (Thursday, November 19, 2020 at 8PM EST / 5PM PST)
Round 2 of our pre-holiday happy hours. This time, the unofficial theme is “what we are thankful for”. BYOB as usual :)
Happy hour in the time of Covid (Thursday, November 12, 2020 at 8PM EST / 5PM PST)
No panelists this week, just a chance to check in with each other. BYOB obviously :)
“Math and mental health: strategies for coping with stress” (Thursday, October 29, 2020 at 1:30PM EDT / 10:30AM PDT)
Panelists: Zachary Gates (Wabash College), Lucia Mocz (University of Chicago), Mikael Vejdemo-Johansson (CUNY College of Staten Island)
Notes are available to attendees only - please email the organizers to request access
Extra links:
Article in Nature on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on postdocs
“Mental Health in the Mathematics Community”, an article co-authored by Mikael for the opinion column in the AMS Notices
Article in The Guardian’s Academics Anonymous column on the exploitative nature of academia
Zoë Ayres’ blog, Voices of Academia, focuses on elevating the conversation around mental health in academia
Posters about mental health in academia, also created by Zoë Ayres
Day 1 of 30 Days of Yoga with Adriene
An open letter from European Women in Mathematics (EWM) about the Covid-19 pandemic’s unequal impact on different groups. The moral: “[not everyone] experienced the crisis equally” and extra advocacy is required for extra-affected groups.
“Building community in a pandemic, part 2: postdocs and faculty” (Thursday, October 15, 2020 at 1PM EDT / 10AM PDT)
Panelists: Renee Bell (University of Pennsylvania), Jaclyn Lang (University of Oxford), Marissa Kawehi Loving (Georgia Tech)
Notes are available to attendees only - please email the organizers to request access
Extra links:
For our participants who are American citizens, please consider visiting vote.org for information on how to vote in the upcoming election in your state.
Marissa is active on Twitter - follow her at @MarissaKawehi
AMS blog post by Pamela Harris on mentor-mentee contracts
Vance’s meme game was strong this week
“Building community in a pandemic, part 1: supporting grad students” (Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 1:30PM EDT / 10:30AM PDT)
Panelists: Eleanor McSpirit (University of Virginia), Natalia Pacheco-Tallaj (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Bernardo Bianco Prado (University of Michigan), Corrine Yap (Rutgers University)
Notes are available upon request - contact the organizers for access
Extra links:
Tayler Fernandes Nuñez is leading a biweekly student study group called Going Grad - you can sign up by filling out this form. The study group is aimed at 1st and 2nd year grad students, as well as advanced undergrads.
Gather is a platform for virtual conferences and other events in which you can walk around, talk to other participants, set up private tables/rooms, and even play games!
Maryam Khaqan’s blog post “Setting boundaries: an online learning adventure”
“Connecting with K-12 educators” (Thursday, September 24, 2020 at 3PM EDT / noon PDT)
Panelists: Emily Casey (University of Washington), Solomon Friedberg (Boston College), Miloš Savić (University of Oklahoma)
Notes are available upon request - contact the organizers for access
Extra links:
AMS Notices article “Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics - How Are We Doing?” by Robert Howe
The Algebra Project, a math literacy initiative
The University of Minnesota Talented Youth Mathematics Program (UMTYMP)
Creativity Research Group, an NSF-funded research group promoting mathematical creativity in teaching; Milos is an active member
The US National Commission of Mathematical Instruction hosted a three-part webinar series this summer entitled “Moving Forward in the Midst of a Pandemic: International Lessons for Math Teachers”, which Solomon helped to organize. You can find videos and more information from the three webinars here.
Math Teachers’ Circle Network, aimed at building community around math education
Math Circle at Glenn Stephens Elementary School in Madison, WI
Liping Ma’s Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics; also, here’s an AMS book review by Roger Howe
Upcoming AMS webinar “Advocating for students of color: there’s more you can do” (after December 11, 2020, this should still be available as a recording further down the page)
“Jobs: what’s out there and how to get one” (Thursday, September 10, 2020 at 2PM EDT / 11AM PDT)
Panelists: Dallas Albritton (Courant Institute - NYU), Harini Chandramouli (Harvard University), Álvaro Lozano-Robledo (University of Connecticut)
Zoom registration (note: the previous recurring Zoom event has expired; please use this new link for future events)
Notes are available upon request - contact the organizers for access
Extra links:
POINT is hosting a panel on Wednesday, September 9, specifically dedicated to applying for math jobs in European countries
On November 9-10, 2020, the University of Florida is partnering with the NSF to host a workshop aimed at early career researchers in STEM who are applying for NSF grants (including the NSF postdoctoral fellowship)
Everyone’s favourite: mathjobs.org
Álvaro’s recent blog posts on his experiences on the job market:
Resources for finding jobs outside the US:
Oxford University Gazette’s list of current jobs and vacancies
eager-gen, an email list that procures many job opportunities in Europe, as well as workshop/conference opportunities
The European Mathematical Society’s (EMS) job listings
Latest math jobs at jobs.ac.uk
Heilbronn Research Fellowships at various institutions in the UK
The Consortium for Faculty Diversity offers fellowships for dissertation-stage graduate students and postdocs
Go click on Kim’s webpage a bunch so that it beats her old webpage in Google results (or teach her about SEO tools)
“Inclusive pedagogy” (Friday, August 28, 2020 at 2PM EDT / 11AM PDT)
Panelists: Jess Ellis Hagman (Colorado State University), Manami Roy (Fordham University)
Kim Klinger-Logan’s notes
Extra links:
AMS Graduate Student Blog post “Ideas and strategies for TAing inclusively and equitably online”
Jess provided the following resources before the panel:
“Humanizing Online Teaching” by Mary Raygoza, Raina León and Aaminah Norris
“8 Ways to Be More Inclusive in Your Zoom Teaching” by Kelly A. Hogan and Viji Sathy
Active Learning While Physically Distancing, a list of tips and resources created by Jennifer Baumgartner (LSU)
“How a Detracked Mathematics Approach Promoted Respect, Responsibility, and High Achievement” by Jo Boaler
Teaching Inquiry-oriented Mathematics: Establishing Supports (TIMES) at the University of Vermont
Here’s an article by the grantholders for TIMES
EQUIP, an app-based platform for observing and tracking data in a classroom (both live and virtual)
Two websites (here and here) for checking if a given URL is accessible in China
Upcoming AMS webinar “Advocating for students of color: there’s more you can do” (after December 11, 2020, this should still be available as a recording further down the page)
“Teaching online during Covid” (Thursday, August 13, 2020 at 2PM EDT / 11AM PDT)
Panelists: Jonah Ostroff (University of Washington), Alicia Prieto Langarica (Youngstown State University), Ravi Vakil (Stanford University)
Notes are available upon request - contact the organizers for access
Kristin’s resources for online teaching - feel free to contribute and share with others!
Extra links:
MAA Math Values blog post “Using 2020 spring student experience data to inform future course planning”
AMS Graduate Student Blog post “Ideas and strategies for TAing inclusively and equitably online”
AMS resources page during Covid-19 pandemic, including TPSE’s top ten list for online instructors
Inside Higher Ed article on three different approaches to social distancing in college classrooms
Three open-source options for creating community in your class: Padlet, Flipgrid and Gather (the latter could be especially useful at conferences)
AMS Summer Webinar Series: Preparing to Teaching Online
Repository of Mastery Grading Materials for Mathematics Courses
MAA webinar series: Conversations for the Math Community
Essay: A Mathematician’s Lament by Paul Lockhart
Blog post (and book of the same name): Mathematics for Human Flourishing by Francis Su
Book: Mount A Teaches by Louise Wasylkiw
Instructions for making an origami hyperbolic paraboloid
Asmita Sodhi’s rubric for a linear algebra project
Instructions for turning your smartphone into a document camera
“Academic visas and immigration” (Thursday, July 30, 2020 at 2PM EDT / 11AM PDT)
Panelists: Changho Han (University of Georgia), Vaidehee Thatte (Binghamton University), Jiajun Yan (University of Virginia)
Notes are available upon request - contact the organizers for access
Extra links:
A helpful overview of some academic visa terminology
Some recent history:
June 18, 2020: In a 5-4 decision, the US Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to end the DACA program (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), which covers many current undergraduate and graduate students in the US.
June 20, 2020: The Trump administration extends a freeze on many immigrant visas. At the time, academic visas were unaffected.
June 22, 2020: The White House proclamation suspends certain types of immigration and non-immigrant visas during the Covid-19 pandemic.
July 6, 2020: The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), part of the Department of Homeland Security, modifies exemptions for current nonimmigrant students to prohibit visa holders from enrolling in programs that are fully online in the fall. This action rolled back exemptions for the spring and summer that allowed students in such programs to remain in the US.
July 8, 2020: The July 6 SEVP directive is quickly followed by a lawsuit filed by MIT and Harvard, which was also supported by a number of amicus briefs filed by other institutions. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to halt implementation of the SEVP directive.
Many institutions, including those listed here, issue statements condemning the July 6 SEVP directive.
July 14, 2020: The district court judge in the MIT/Harvard case announces that the Trump administration has reversed its stance on academic visas in the July 6 directive.
July 24, 2020: SEVP issues another directive, clarifying that students seeking new academic visas will not be permitted to enroll in online-only programs in the fall.
A playbook for how to respond to governmental restrictions on visas, immigration, etc. This Twitter thread was posted during the Trump administration’s summer 2020 attacks on student visas, but is a useful guide for any future calls to action
“Mentoring and being mentored” (Friday, July 17, 2020 at 2PM EDT / 11AM PDT)
Panelists: Tarik Aougab (Haverford College), Edray Goins (Pomona College), David Zureick-Brown (Emory University)
Extra links:
Article on the AMS blogs page: “Learning During the Pandemic: What we wish our professors and mentors knew”
First Year Math and Stats in Canada, a repository of resources for first year grad students at Canadian universities; of course many of the resources are not only applicable to students in Canada
Study skills and tutoring resources at Dalhousie University; again, many of these are applicable outside Dalhousie
Taka Tanaka’s suggestions on how to switch from STEM academia to industry (in this case, astronomy & physics to data science)
“Covid and the job market” (Thursday, July 2, 2020 at 2PM EDT / 11AM PDT)
Panelists: Tai Melcher (University of Virginia), Sarah Raynor (Wake Forest), Soumya Sankar (MSRI/Ohio State)
Chat transcript and participant list are available to meeting participants upon request
Extra links:
Carrie Eaton’s “Message from the MAA Committee on Minority Participation in Mathematics”
The AMS is doing a webinar on online course design on Monday, July 6, at 2PM EDT
The NSA offers numerous student programs, including the Graduate Mathematics Program (GMP), which you can read about by clicking on “Internships” on the linked page and scrolling down
The Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) homepage
A link to the Canadian Mathematical Society’s (CMS) Covid-19 Research and Education Meeting (CCREM), which takes place virtually July 13 - 16
Sarah Raynor gets her glasses from zennioptical.com and recommends the blue blocking option for extended screentime
Women in Combinatorics (WinCom) is dedicated to building a network of women who do research in combinatorics
Happy Hour in the Time of COVID (Thursday, June 25, 2020 at 8PM EDT / 5PM PDT)
No panelists this week, just a chance to celebrate everyone who recently earned their degree, got a job, published a paper, finished a project, etc. BYOB obviously :)
“How to take action - allyship in the time of Covid” (Friday, June 19, 2020 at 2PM EDT / 11AM PDT)
Panelists: Jayadev Athreya (University of Washington), Adam Kapilow (University of Washington), Asmita Sodhi (Dalhousie University)
Vance Blankers’ notes
Chat transcript and participant list are available to meeting participants upon request
Extra links:
Happy Juneteenth! PBS’s series “The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross” has more information on the history of this day of celebration
Letter to AMS Notices: Boycott collaboration with police
WNYC Studios’ podcast Come Through with Rebecca Carroll, episode on the Hard Work of Allyship
Pomona Research in Mathematics Experience (PRiME), an REU at Pomona College featuring a speaker series focused on the history of African Americans in math
Homepage of the National Association of Mathematicians, an organization with a distinguished record of promoting Black mathematicians and mathematicians of color
Mathematically Gifted and Black, a website created to highlight the work and lives of Black mathematicians
And wouldn’t you know it, one of our panelists last week, Noelle Sawyer, is a rising star
AMS Message of Support for and Solidarity with the Black Community, adopted on June 12 after the ShutDownSTEM strike on June 10
Article on renaming the physics, math and astronomy building at the University of Texas-Austin
The Liberated Mathematician, Piper Harron’s website and blog that has many reflections on and suggestions for the issues we discussed during Lunch today
Three peer-reviewed articles (1 2 3) on gender bias in student evaluations
LOTS of podcast recommendations, including:
Podcast Roundup - Race Edition, provided by Asmita
Scene on Radio’s Seeing White and Men
Reading suggestions, including a bunch provided by Jayadev and Asmita after Lunch:
FREE book, Living Proof: Stories of Resilience Along the Mathematical Journey, available through the MAA website
Angela Saini’s books Superior: The Return of Race Science and Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong-And the New Research That’s Rewriting the Story (recommended by Asmita)
Syllabus for Dean Chahim's course Engineering for Social Justice
The Cambridge University Ethics in Mathematics Project
Lily Khadjavi's and Gizem Karaali's Mathematics for Social Justice: Resources for the College Classroom
High School Mathematics Lessons to Explore, Understand, and Respond to Social Injustice
George Gheverghese Joseph's The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics
Ron Eglash's African Fractals
Nicolas Bourriaud's The Radicant
Rehumanizing Mathematics for Black, Indigenous and Latinx Students, by Rochelle Guiterrez, et al.
MIT course “Knot Language: Recreating Inca Quipu/Khipu”, as well as a brief article on the same topic
Folder of materials for teaching social justice math
Importable Canvas course Social Justice by the Numbers
“Black mathematicians and Covid” (Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 1:30PM EDT / 10:30AM PDT)
Panelists: Tayler Fernandes Nuñez (Smith College), Tafari James (University of Washington), Noelle Sawyer (Southwestern University)
There are notes available, but in order to respect the privacy of our panelists, we ask that you contact the organizers to obtain access
Chat transcript and participant list are available to meeting participants upon request
Extra links:
Carrie Eaton’s “Message from the MAA Committee on Minority Participation in Mathematics”
BLM Resource Guide prepared by Tayler Fernandes Nuñez and friends
Homepage of the National Association of Mathematicians, an organization with a distinguished record of promoting Black mathematicians and mathematicians of color
Resource list compiled by the creators of ShutDownSTEM
ASCN list of resources on equity and inclusion for STEM and higher education
Canadian Museum for Human Rights: The story on Africville
Twitter announcement of the cancellation of AWM and AMS’s Noether Lecture at JMM 2021 - as one participant pointed out, this cancellation came after significant pushback on Twitter to the original announcement of the lecture
Letter to AMS Notices: Boycott collaboration with police
An incomplete list of bridge and post-baccalaureate programs in the US prepared by Tayler. As an alumnus, I will also advertise Wake Forest’s excellent Master’s program in math
“How to stay productive as a researcher” (Thursday, June 4, 2020 at 2PM EDT / 11AM PDT)
Panelists: Juliette Bruce (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Eloísa Grifo (UC Riverside), Daniel Litt (University of Georgia)
Chat transcript and participant list are available to meeting participants upon request
Extra links:
Carrie Eaton’s “Message from the MAA Committee on Minority Participation in Mathematics”
BLM Resource Guide prepared by Tayler Fernandes Nuñez and friends