Newsletter 2014/4

24 oct. 2014

Newsletter for the Math Communication Network, a project initiated by IMAGINARY aimed to professionals of math outreach. Learn more about it on the project website.

 

In this Newsletter:
  • Matrix Conference and Dresden Declaration proposal.
  • New Museums.
  • Exhibitions.
  • Upcoming conferences.
  • Organization.

Remember that you can send us any news you may want to share with the community to network@imaginary.org.

Matrix Conference and Dresden Declaration proposal

The Matrix conference was the first meeting specifically devoted to math museums and exhibitions, and it gathered representatives of the majority of most relevant math museums to the date. It served as a meeting point to discuss approaches to math outreach practices, and evidenced the interactions, similarities and differences between different institutions. It was organized by the Museum of Mathematics (New York) and Erlebnisland Mathematik (Dresden), with the partnership of the KoMSO network and IMAGINARY.

With the occasion of the conference, a small group formed from IMAGINARY, Erlebnisland Mathematik and a legal advisor proposed to open a debate about the common principles and collective goals of the community, including a discussion on intellectual property rights, open licenses, and models to share and exchange materials and information. The aim was to eventually arrive to a set of guidelines (Code of Conduct) for the behaviour inside this community. This team prepared a first draft of such Code of Conduct, and it was presented at the conference under the title of Dresden Declaration, and everybody was invited to bring its opinion about the topic. This proposal was not signed or subscribed formally by the participants, and it remains as an open project.

The text of the Dresden Declaration proposal can be downloaded here and everybody interested in participating on the discussion of the topic can join the group at network@imaginary.org.

New Museums World of Mathematics (St Petersburg, Russia)

The new math museum World of Mathematics will open on October 26 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, coinciding with a celebration of Martin Gardner birth centennial (Oct 21).

Math gallery at the London Science Museum

The London Science Museum will open a new mathematics gallery in 2016. This piece of news has been widely covered by the press and media. Some useful links:

Press releases: [1], [2], news: [3], architectural notes: [4].

 

For a list of math museums worldwide, check out the math museums map, maintained by the Math Communication Network.

 

Exhibitions Volim Matematiku (Zagreb, Croatia, from October 12, 2014 to March 15, 2015)

The exhibition Matheliebe, originated in Liechtenstein, is now on display in Galerija Klovićevi dvori (Zagreb). See also these news with lots of pictures (in Croatian).

 

MaTeinItaly (Milan, Italy, from September 16 to November 23, 2014)

An exhibition that will guide you on a tour of mathematics and show you that mathematics is everywhere. A journey that will surprise and amuse you, like being the main character in a science-fiction novel, because, like nature, our future is being written in mathematical characters.

The exhibition MaTeinItaly is organised by the Centro “Matematita” of the  University of Milan and by the Centro PRISTEM of the Università Bocconi of Milan. From September 16 to November 23 2014, at the Triennale di Milano, (Milan, Italy).

  Upcoming conferences Maths Communication in Africa (Cape Town, South Africa, November 5-7, 2014)

Organized by the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in South Africa and IMAGINARY. The objective of this conference is to exchange experiences in communicating mathematics internationally with a focus on the African continent as well as to plan concrete math outreach activities in various African countries.

Creative Mathematical Sciences Communication (Chennai, India, December 9-12, 2014)

This is a second in a conference series that explores new ways of helping students achieve 21st Century competencies in mathematics and computer science, which includes math activities across the curriculum. The first conference in the series, held in Charles Darwin University, Northern Territories, Australia, from August 2 to 8, 2013, saw a unique interaction between artists (theatre, dance, graphic arts) and mathematicians / math educators. Importantly, the conference aims to engage research mathematical scientists in outreach and communication. Bringing together researchers, educators and communicators committed to bringing exploration and discovery into classrooms and among the educated public, the conference hopes to explore new ways of thinking initiated by Computer Science Unplugged and other similar efforts in the 1990s.

MoSAIC mini-conferences

MoSAIC is a collaborative effort sponsored and funded by MSRI (Mathematical Sciences Research Institute) and administered by the Bridges organization. MoSAIC consists on a series of interdisciplinary mini conferences and festivals on mathematical connections in science, art, industry, and culture, to be held in colleges and universities around the United States and abroad.

First mini-conference was held on 3-4 October at Berkeley City College in Berkeley, California. Several others to come soon.

Other announced conferences

During the Matrix conference, the Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) announced the forthcoming Moves 2015, to be held in New York (United States) on August 2-4, 2015.

During the Heidelberg Laureate Forum, Michael Atiyah and Semir Zeki announced the conference The Science of Beauty, to be held in Edinburgh (United Kingdom) on November 10-11, 2015.

More information to follow.

 

Organization

This is the fourth issue of our Newsletter, and we think that the appropriate periodicity for new issues would be roughly bimonthly. The main source of news are individuals that contact us in one or another way. Therefore, we invite you to keep sending us news on conferences, new openings, proposals of collaboration, requests and offers, etc. We will send occasionally a reminder to gather some news.

 

 

For any issues about the Network, you can email to network@imaginary.org or Daniel Ramos at daniel.ramos@imaginary.org

IMAGINARY is a project by the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach and supported by the Klaus Tschira Stiftung.

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