Outreach & Community Engagement Programs

F.L. Griffin MathFest

Since 1987, the Reed College mathematics and statistics department has sponsored a Saturday workshop in the spring for area high school students and teachers interested in mathematics enrichment. The workshop gives students and teachers a hands-on opportunity to work on interesting problems in a mathematical topic complementary to the high school curriculum. Recent topics have included "Probability: Chances Are," "Parentheses, Paths, and Partitions: Catalan Combinatorics," "Tangles, Braids, Knots, and Numbers," "Divisors and Sandpiles," "Regular Polytopes in Three and More Dimensions," "Turing Machines," and "Trigonometry by Example." See examples of past MathFest programs here.

There is no cost to participants. 
Registration is open to high school students, plus teachers.

April 6, 2024 Program

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Infinity: Checking in at Hilbert's Infinite Hotel

It goes without saying that infinity is a perplexing concept. Just to illustrate this, suppose that at Hilbert's Infinite Hotel there is one room for every one of the counting numbers 1, 2, 3, … . On a busy holiday weekend, every room at the hotel might be occupied. Even so, because there are infinitely many rooms a new arrival can be accommodated simply by moving each guest to the next highest numbered room! In this year's MathFest, we'll tackle paradoxes like Hilbert's Hotel, as well as other mathematical facts about infinity like how infinitely many positive numbers can be added up to get a number (like 1).

Faculty Presenters:

David Meyer, Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics, and participating faculty

Registrants will also have the opportunity to meet Reed math majors and ask questions about their experience studying math in college!

Prerequisites

  • High school student
  • Enthusiasm for mathematics 
  • Proof of Covid-19 vaccination or negative test within 72 hours is required for all attendees; masks are required at MathFest.
  • Pre-registration required
  • Deadline to register: March 29, 2024

Registration

Registration for the 2024 MathFest is now open. Register here!

MathFest is open to high school students and their teachers.

Download the 2024 program.