Intro to new math course to involve hands-on fractals, origami

Western Washington University mathematics instructors Dina Buric and Teresa Downard are developing a new GUR, "MATH 160: Mathematics and Art," and they'll present an interactive experience on the project March 4 and 11 as part of the campus Faculty GUR Group.

The new math course is built from beautiful, accessible and challenging problems from a broad range of mathematical disciplines. In the Faculty GUR Group sessions, attendees will get a glimpse of the course through hands-on projects that involve fractals, similarity and proportion, spirolaterals, and origami.

All faculty and staff are invited to attend this two-part “mini course” offered on two dates, each covering different material. Attend both or either.

• Part 1: 4 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 4, in Miller Hall Room 156 – For the first session we will introduce the course with a short presentation, explore aspects of design including proportion and similarity, and experience the process of mathematical discovery through spirolaterals. If the weather permits, we will end the session outside with some examples of conic sections.
• Part 2: 4 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, in Miller Hall Room 156 – The second session is focused on the multitude of topics in the intersection of math and art. We will continue working on some ideas from the first session and give a little history, but the main part of the session will consist of hands-on projects such as fractal cuts and origami.

The idea behind the Faculty GUR Group is that faculty–as well as students–need to sustain their general education. With this in mind, the Faculty GUR Group was formed to bring together people from different departments across the university to allow each participant to enhance their general education by acquiring useful knowledge their colleagues consider basic.