The conference begins at 9 a.m. and features undergraduate student research presentations covering topics from how Nazi Germany affected mathematicians and mathematics to how Lewis Carroll, author of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” also was mathematician Charles Dodgson.

Patti Hunter, an associate professor of mathematics at Westmont College in California, will deliver the keynote address, “Spreading the Gospel: Gertrude M. Cox and the Promotion of University Statistics at Home and Abroad,” at 10 a.m. Hunter will discuss the contributions made to the advancement of university statistics and training by Cox, who was the founding chair of the first university department of statistics at North Carolina State University.

“When we study the history of mathematics, we learn about human creativity and ingenuity,” said Hunter. “We learn about the ways that people negotiate meaning for their ideas. We learn that even as today’s mathematicians produce powerful, interesting and new mathematics every day, their work depends on the ways of the past.”

About 70 participants attended last year’s conference, and attendance is expected to grow this year. Presenters and attendees will be traveling from the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Oklahoma.

“Understanding the history of mathematics can bring the subject alive,” said Sloan Despeaux, conference organizer and assistant professor of mathematics and computer science. “Also, this conference is a great way for students to share all the hard work they’ve put into their research, and I love to see them feel a sense of accomplishment after giving a great talk or presenting a great poster.”

The conference is funded in part by a National Science Foundation grant awarded through the Mathematical Association of America’s regional undergraduate mathematics conference program.

For more information and registration, contact Despeaux at (828) 227-3825 or despeaux@wcu.edu.

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Last Modified: Tuesday, April 15, 2008