Vanderbilt University Register: Unofficial math seminars draw droves of undergraduate students

by Emily Waltz

Something strange is happening at Vanderbilt. An unofficial series of math seminars has actually become popular. A wide range of undergraduates -- including a few English majors -- have been turning up in unexpectedly large numbers at the talks, which were organized by a group of mathematics graduate students and are conducted more like performances than like typical lectures.

Mathematics graduate student Patrick Bahls got the idea as a fun way for him and his fellow grad students to develop their teaching skills, but the project got off to an inauspicious start. Despite offering pizza, only three people showed up for the first seminar, he recalled. But since then, the audience has grown steadily as word has spread around campus. Now 40 to 50 students generally show up and their most popular seminar drew an audience of 85 undergraduates.

"The grad students are very funny during their presentations," said James Lampton, an undergraduate student who attends the seminars regularly. "They add a lot of flavor to mathematics."

Michael Mihalik, chairman of the Department of Mathematics, offered an explanation for the unusual popularity of the seminars.

"It's the topics," he explained. "They've picked the types of things that people can relate to."

The seminars are designed so that undergraduates of any major can easily follow the discussion, and the topics concern aspects of daily life that affect everyone. In a seminar on MP3s, Derek Bruff explained how the computer language of zeros and ones translates into music emanating from a speaker. In another seminar, Ashley Ahlin compared the tile patterns in the Alhambra, a Moorish palace, with the work of M.C. Escher.

In addition to applicable topics, the graduate students add humor and audience participation to their talks to maintain the audience's interest.

"I couldn't possibly do this in all seriousness," Bruff said.

Despite the humor, several math professors have concluded that the seminars are informative enough to warrant giving students in their classes extra credit for attending, which has contributed significantly to the series' growing popularity. Although the seminars were created independently by the grad students, the Department of Mathematics is so pleased by their quality and popularity that it has begun supporting them, Mihalik said.

"The most interesting thing I found out was during the presentation by Derek Bruff and Patrick Bahls titled 'Huh?'" said Lampton. "They told us that a city was doing traffic analysis of its roadways and came to the conclusion that if they lowered the speed limit by 5 to 10 mph that they could actually reduce traffic jams. Using volunteers from the audience, they demonstrated this principle by having us walk around the room at equal speeds at about a foot away from each other. Evidently when someone stops, the group that gets bunched up behind them quickly grows bigger because everyone was moving faster. When they are moving slowly, usually the pause doesn't even affect most of the group."

Bahls and the other graduate students work hard to prepare the seminars and project such a high level of energy that the audience can't help but listen. They are not only entertaining, but also exceptionally bright. Mihalik indicated that Bahls will probably be the highest placed mathematics graduate student this year.

"We expect him to get a nice post doc at a prestigious university," Mihalik said.

Bruff and Bahls explained that they enjoy teaching and that conducting the seminars gives them a chance to use their skills as speakers and mentors. They hope to obtain their doctorate degrees and eventually become university professors.

"These guys have worked very hard to make this successful," Mihalik said.

The seminars are held on Tuesdays from 6 to 7 p.m. in Stevenson 1206.