Articles from:April 2024

  • FMS Research Colloquium Series #4 Indigenous Mathematics: A Survival Kit (May 13 12 PM)

    As part of the Faculty of Mathematics and Science Colloquium Series, Dr. Edward Doolitle, Associate Dean, Research and Associate Professor Mathematics in the Department of Indigenous Knowledge & Science, First Nations University of Canada has been invited to give a talk entitled Indigenous Mathematics: A Survival Kit. 

    Students, Faculty, Staff and members of the Brock Community are invited to join us on May 13th, 2024 from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM in Rankin Family Pavilion room RFP (214/215), Everyone is welcome.

    Brock Community Members can register free with ExperienceBU -Doolittle

    Description:
    The fourth installment of the FMS Colloquium Series with Dr. Edward Doolittle Associate Dean, Research and Associate Professor, Mathematics, Department of Indigenous Knowledge & Science, First Nations University of Canada

    Serving as part four of the FMS Colloquium Series on the theme of The Anthropocene, Brock University is pleased to host Dr. Edward Doolittle who will present on Indigenous Mathematics: A Survival Kit.

    Edward Doolittle will speak about the mathematics that we can carry with us – not in books or journals – but in our own minds, perhaps with a small amount of material culture which can also be carried on the person. “It is mathematics consistent with Indigenous oral traditions, which might be appreciated by our ancestors before the Anthropocene, and also important again when the Anthropocene draws to a close,” said Doolittle.

    Speaker Biography:
    Edward Doolittle is Kanyen’kehake (Mohawk) from Six Nations in southern Ontario. He earned a PhD in pure mathematics (partial differential equations) from the University of Toronto in 1997. From then until 2001 he worked for Queen’s University’s Aboriginal Teacher Education Program, helping to administer the program and teaching Indigenous Mathematics Education, and from 2000 to 2001 he studied the Mohawk language in immersion with Onkwewenna Kentsyohkwa (Our Language Group) on Six Nations. From 2001 he has been on the faculty of First Nations University and the University of Regina, currently as Associate Professor of Mathematics and Associate Dean, Research. He is a recipient of a Governor General’s Gold Medal and of an honourable mention on the William Lowell Putnam Competition.

     

  • Seminar Series: Dr. Henryk Fukś Thursday, April 4th 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

    As part of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics Seminar Series, Professor of Mathematics Henryk Fukś will present a lecture on the theme of the upcoming total solar eclipse, entitled “Solar and lunar cycles in the construction of the Gregorian Calendar.” Students, Faculty, Staff and members of the Brock community are invited to attend. The talk will take place in South Block, room STH 216 from 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM on Thursday, April 4th, 2024.

    Abstract
    On February 24, 1582, Pope Gregory XIII issued the bull “Inter gravissimas” introducing the new calendar, later called Gregorian. It is well known that the calendar reform corrected the average length of the year to make it closer to the astronomical solar year, but it is not so widely known that the Gregorian reform also corrected the way moon phases are calculated for the purpose of determining the day of Easter and for other liturgical purposes.