The 2011 Annual Meeting
of the Illinois Section
of the MAA
The 2011 Spring Meeting for the Illinois Section of the MAA will be held at North Central College, April 7 - 9, 2011.
Meeting Links
Lodging, Transportation and Parking
This year's plenary speakers include: Paul Sally (University of Chicago); Louis Kaufman (University of Illinois at Chicago); Susanna Epp (DePaul University); and Robin Blankenship (Morehead State University).
Here are several of the abstracts for the plenary talks:
Opening Talk: Friday, April 8, 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM, Miley Swallow Thrust Stage
Speaker: Paul Sally, University of Chicago
Title: Problems in Mathematics from Zero to Inifinity
Abstract:
We will discuss several problems related to Algebra, Analysis, and Topology
that begin at an elementary stage and end up within reach of the current
frontiers in mathematics research.
Banquet Talk: Friday, April 8, 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM, WAC Centennial Hall
Speaker: Robin Blankenship, Morehead State University
Title: Undergraduate Research: Book Embeddings and Pebbling Numbers of Chessboard and Sudoku graphs, and Counting the Number of Hextile Knot Mosaics of a Given Radius
Abstract: In this talk I will describe my acclimation to undergraduate research advising as a new faculty member, beginning in my home subject of book embeddings of graphs, moving to pebbling numbers of graphs, and concluding with current projects on hextile knot mosaics. I will engage the audience in explorations into the basic principles of pebbling numbers of graphs, and describe the undergraduate research project focusing on pebbling chessboard and Sudoku graphs. During the second half of the talk, I will engage the audience in explorations of hextile knot mosaics, describing the ongoing undergraduate research project of counting the number of hextile knot mosaics in a given radius.
Plenary Talk: Saturday, April 9, 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM, Miley Swallow Thrust Stage
Speaker: Susanna Epp, DePaul University
Title: Linguistic Issues in College Mathematics Courses
Abstract: Much of what we say and write in our mathematics classes assumes that
our students understand linguistic and logical conventions that have
never been made explicit to them. What problems result from this
assumption, and how can we address them?
Closing Talk: Saturday, April 9, 12:15 PM - 1:15 PM, Miley Swallow Thrust Stage
Speaker: Louis H. Kauffman, UIC
Title: Introduction to Knot Theory
Abstract: This talk discusses the mathematics and applications of the
theory of knots. Knot theory studies the structure of the embeddings of
one topological space in another. Classical knot theory studies the
embeddings of a circle or disjoint union of circles in three dimensional
space. This simply stated problem turns out to be very complex and it has
significant relationships with many areas of mathematics, with theoretical
physics, with molecular biology and other fields. This talk will give a
picture of some of these relationships.