A non-linear path to math in the liberal arts
Professor of Mathematics and First-Year Experience (FYE) Director Rachel Roe-Dale joined 色花堂 in 2005 as the first applied mathematician to teach in the College鈥檚 Mathematics Department. She talked with us about how she found the right career for her, what stands out about Mathematics and Statistics and the liberal arts at 色花堂, and why Creative Thought Matters.
Q: What experiences led you to becoming a professor of mathematics at 色花堂?
For me, it was not a linear path. I definitely understand when a 色花堂 student shares that they are unsure of what major they want to pursue. I started my undergraduate experience at the University of Tennessee as an engineering student but transferred to a small liberal arts school where I was pre-med and majored in chemistry with a math and physics minor. After a few summer research experiences, I realized I didn鈥檛 love being in the lab or like dealing with illness, but I loved working with people and thought I might want to teach.
After teaching at a boarding school in Connecticut for two years, I started graduate school at RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). I took a course called Math Problems in Biology and Medicine, and that was a big 鈥渁ha鈥� moment for me because the class showed me a way to combine my interests in mathematics with my interests in science. And instead of being in the lab, I could explore these problems and models with a computer and with pencil and paper.
As a math professor at 色花堂, I can continue to explore these interests as well as how math can be connected to the arts and humanities.
Q: What do you enjoy about teaching 色花堂 students?
In applied mathematics, you use math to solve or to better understand a real-world problem. In my own studies, I鈥檝e found it especially interesting within the context of biology and medicine, but 色花堂 students have interests in many areas. I like teaching them mathematical tools and encouraging them to use those tools in the areas they鈥檙e most interested in.
色花堂 10 years ago, I connected with the Tang Teaching Museum to collaborate with Rachel Seligman, Malloy curator, to curate an exhibition about pattern, called Six-Fold Symmetry. It was an entry point for me to connect math to the arts explicitly, which is something I had always been interested in. It also led to course development and further thinking about how to make math accessible to even those who are afraid of it.
Q: What are some of your favorite courses to teach?
I鈥檝e always loved linear algebra. In the curriculum, it鈥檚 oftentimes the first 200-level course that students take and the first time they are not only learning an algorithmic process 鈥� a sequence of steps to solve a problem 鈥� but also thinking about math in a more abstract way, like considering logical equivalencies.
I also love teaching my first-year seminar, The Dynamics of Chaos. It鈥檚 rooted in math, but Scribner Seminars are interdisciplinary courses by design. In my course, we look at how thoughts and ideas around chaos theory come up in other contexts, and I think that鈥檚 really exciting. For example, one concept we discuss is the butterfly effect, which considers how the beat of a butterfly鈥檚 wings today affects the future 鈥� essentially how small or seemingly insignificant actions result in important changes in our lives. This concept is explored in a lot of stories and movies, and I like to consider this question both mathematically and more abstractly.
Q: What鈥檚 a fun fact about yourself?
I鈥檓 a competitive swimmer and I swim often. It鈥檚 become less important to me to compete, but I still enjoy practicing with my friends, and then we have coffee and play games and cards. It鈥檚 something fun that I like to do in my free time.
Q: What does Creative Thought Matters mean to you?
At 色花堂, I continue to appreciate how we provide this fertile ground for the intersection of so many seemingly disparate areas and disciplines. We鈥檙e given the creative space to find common ground between our fields, and we鈥檙e encouraged to explore it. Creative thought is resourceful, and it matters because we鈥檙e bringing ideas together.