Featured Speaker :  Uri Treisman, University of Texas at Austin

Title :  Welcoming freshmen to the world of mathematics

Abstract:

How can we help our students make an informed choice about pursuing a life in mathematics or in a mathematics-intensive profession? How can we practically and productively assess the impact of our introductory courses on our students' academic and career choices? Erica and Uri will share some of their recent work on acculturating students to the norms, values and aesthetics of our discipline. They will describe some of the novel structures, routines and rituals which constitute the heart of their equity-minded classroom practice. Finally, they will show excerpts of Erica’s interviews with class alumni reflecting on the impact of the course on their undergraduate experience. Those of you familiar with Uri’s work will recognize the structures, routines and rituals presented as a natural evolution of those at the heart of the Emerging Scholars program he developed at Berkeley in the late 1970s.