I strongly
beleive that outreach, popularization, and engagement activities are at
least as important as conducting research and regular university teaching.
These activities help to
- Excite younger children and inspire
them to explore the increadibly beautiful,
colorful, and playful world of mathematics,
- Motivate older children to learn
mathematics, which is unfortunately one of the most unpopular subjects
in schools, by showing how useful mathematics is,
- Bridge the gap between mathematics
and general public (mis)understanding of mathematics, by sharing some
of the current mathematical research activity.
In particular, I consider this as my
responsibility to fight agaisnt the following myths:
- Myth #1: Mathematics, as a field,
was fully developed by the ancient Greeks, and there is nothing more
to do in mathematics.
- Myth #2: Mathematics is boring and
ugly. It is about memorizing formulas, plugging in numbers, and calculating
the result.
- Myth #3: Mathematics is useless in
everyday life, irrelevant for ordinary people, and has nothing to
do with the real world.
Selected Activities
- During Oct. 2019 – Mar. 2020,
I was co-teaching the “Breaking Numbers into Parts” bridge
class for 1st and 2nd grade students at the UCLA
Math Circle together with Marcus
Roper, Sucharit
Sarkar, and Artur
Davoyan.
- In Oct. 2018, together with Caltech
students Megan
Durney and Natalie
Bernat, I presented a hands-on collaborative project “Mathematical
Night Sky” for K-5 students and their parents at the STEAM Night at
Sierra Madre Elementary
School
- During Summer 2002, I have taught
two courses, “Introduction
to Topology” and “Ruler-and-Compass Constructions,” for
high school students at the Summer
School of Moscow
Center for Continuous Mathematical Education.
- In Spring 2020, I have created a [YouTube]
channel, that I will be useing for both outreach and popularization
of mathematics. Subscribe! :)
- In Summer 2020, to enhance the online experience
of all Caltech community members, who like to play chess, I have created
the Caltech
Chess Club on lichess. This club is created for the entire Caltech
community – students,
postdocs, faculty and staff members –
to enjoy friendly online chess tournaments. So, if you like to play
chess and want to meet other Techers over the virtual board, join
us!
To register: a) Create an account at www.lichess.org
b) Send a request to joint the Caltech
Chess Club c) Send an email to kostia
[at] caltech [dot] edu from your Caltech
email with your lichess username. See you over the online board!
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