New Semester’s Resolutions
This is the time of year when everyone is back on a diet or the treadmill, calling loved ones frequently, saving money, etc. We are all looking back on last year and deciding what we need to change, do...
View ArticleMathsgiving
In the movies, when people gather for Thanksgiving they all go around the table and say what they’re thankful for. Very few of the actual Thanksgiving festivities I have attended have had this feature,...
View ArticleReview, Rinse, Repeat Episode 3: The prof who did too much
Last week, I received very good news: I have been reappointed at Bates for three more years! So there will be some breathing room between this review and the big one. I am talking of course about the...
View ArticleLearning to say no
Probably the biggest problem I’ve had in my “early career mathematician” life is that I do too many things. I wrote a bit already about my over-functioning issues in an older post. In part, this is how...
View ArticleA Magical Sabbatical
Even though it’s only been a month since I moved back to Maine, pre-tenure leave seems like a distant memory. I expected that the change would be abrupt, especially since I was traveling and trying to...
View ArticleA collaborator visits
This week, I have been hosting my collaborator Leila Schneps here at Bates. The main pretext was to have her give our annual Sampson lecture. This lecture series was started to honor the late Richard...
View ArticleGrowing Roots
I don’t have much to say about math at the moment. Classes are proceeding. Papers are too. Committee work has continued to intensify. Hiring for two positions has taken an enormous amount of time and...
View ArticleShould I Stay or Should I Go?
How do you determine whether or not to attend a particular conference? As a working example to see through to natural generalizations, let’s use the JMM. [Just to choose a conference we’ve all heard...
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