Julianna Tymoczko

Associate Professor of Mathematics
Burton Hall 314
(413) 585–3775

Email: jtymoczko AT smith dot edu

Julianna Tymoczko: algebraic and combinatorial geometer

Math 300: Dialogues in Mathematics

This syllabus contains an incomplete and tentative list of topics. You will decide which you want to discuss in what order as the course evolves. Readings are on Moodle.

  1. Intro to the course: what you need to make it through grad school and life with grace, dignity, integrity, and rocking success
  2. Implicit bias: how other people's small judgments can make big differences in your life
  3. Stereotype threat: how your judgments can make big differences in your performance
  4. Growth mindset versus fixed mindset: how what you think about learning affects how you learn
  5. How to read and write math. Hint: not like you read a novel. And not like you write a term paper!
  6. Choosing an advisor and other milestones on the way to a PhD
  7. "Writing a thesis", or how to run a really big, important project for which you are simultaneously the creative team, administrative staff, delivery person, quality control, technical support, and supervisor
  8. Learning styles and modalities: what different ways to learn means for you as a student and as a teacher
  9. Active learning, or how to teach so that students actually learn
  10. Dealing with conflict with your students, your peers, and your supervisors
  11. Dealing with conflict with yourself: the imposter syndrome, stress, self-doubt, and other pitfalls
  12. The long view of your career: where can you go from here, and what can you do to get there?
  13. Time management and work/life balance: figuring out what's important to you, what you need to be healthy and happy, how to prioritize, how to make choices, and how to do good enough
  14. I am the rainbow, and sometimes it wears me out: how different backgrounds of underrepresented minorities, LGBTQ, first-generation college grads, etc., can affect your perspective, enrich your institution, and drain you
  15. Two-body problems and one-body problems. If you're a mathematician, your partner is probably something that's not too fungible. And if you don't have a partner but want one, how do you find one---especially in Urbana, or Columbus, or Stillwater?
  16. Being a mom and being a mathematician. Lots of people do it in lots of different ways.