Math in the Museum: Interdisciplinary Learning at Skidmore

What do math and museums have in common? There is more in common than you might expect. Both mathematicians and artists have long looked to understand the physical world and abstract concepts through the visualization of ideas and relationships. Numerous mathematical ideas are embodied in the visual arts, architecture, and design, and the arts have helped shaped advances in math and computer science in important ways. From ancient Greek art to the Renaissance, and from Islamic patterns to contemporary computer-generated art, math has an important place in the world of art, architecture, and design both within museum spaces and all around us. This webinar will discuss the development of our new course Math in the Museum and some of the rich intersections between the fields of mathematics and art. Rachel Roe-Dale is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Skidmore College. She received her Ph.D. in Mathematics and her Master's degree in Applied Mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; her BA is in chemistry from Maryville College. Roe-Dale's research interests include mathematical biology and medicine and modeling other physical systems. She teaches applied mathematics courses at Skidmore, and her research focuses on mathematical biology, medicine, and modeling other physical systems. She is also interested in exploring quantitative literacy through museum exhibitions and programming and co-curated the recent Tang exhibition, Sixfold Symmetry with Rachel Seligman. Rachel Seligman is the Assistant Director for Curatorial Affairs and Malloy Curator at the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College. Her curatorial practice includes many interdisciplinary collaborative projects with faculty colleagues, on subjects including social class, activism and civil rights, pattern in art and science, sugar, democracy and citizenship, and Solomon Northup, among others. She has a BA from Skidmore College and an MA in Art History from George Washington University. She has taught Art History at SUNY Adirondack in Glens Falls, NY, Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY, and the College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY. Seligman is the co-author of Solomon Northup: The Complete Story of the Author of Twelve Years a Slave (Praeger, 2013), as well as numerous exhibition catalogues including Classless Society (Tang, 2014), Machine Project (DelMonico-Prestel, 2016), and Sixfold Symmetry (Tang, 2018).