K-State Undergraduate Lectures in Mathematics
The Kansas State University Undergraduate Lectures in Mathematics introduce our students to ideas and opportunities in the mathematical sciences and to applications of mathematics. The lectures feature presentations by alumni of our department, our faculty, business and government representatives, and prominent mathematicians from other universities. Visiting alumni have described a wide variety of topics including: the value of mathematical thinking and training; employment and research opportunities; interesting problems and the math in their work; their experiences; and success factors. Lecture topics by visiting mathematicians have included applications of mathematics, chaos and fractals, error correcting codes, games of strategy, graph theory, the history of mathematics, and tilings. A number of our graduating seniors have said in exit interviews that the undergraduate lectures revealed exciting areas and opportunities of which they were unaware. Some of our recent guests and their lecture topics are included below.The audience would be the first year students in our undergraduate math seminar as well as some of our more advanced students. The majority of the students will be enrolled in Calculus 1, with most of the rest in Calculus 2 or 3 and a few in higher level courses such as differential equations, advanced calculus, or modern algebra.