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CCMS Colloquium: Andrew Fiss (Michigan Technological University)
May 1 @ 11:00 am - 12:15 pm
CCMS Colloquium invites you to a talk by Andrew Fiss (Michigan Technological University)
Title: “Singing American Math: College Traditions from Book Burnings to Observatory Parties, 1880s-1920s”
Abstract: “Singing Math” is a practice that linked American colleges of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A part of broader college singing traditions, it stood apart because of its subject matter: mathematical sciences. Noting how math songs were sung outdoors, in theaters, and in observatories, this talk explores stories of textbook burials at Yale and Ohio Wesleyan; theatrical productions at MIT, Purdue, and the Michigan College of Mines; and observatory parties at Vassar Observatory, Lick Observatory, and Harvard Observatory. Overall, it argues that math songs are a form of technical communication, one that enjoyed large reach because of its multiple meanings and varied practices.
Bio: Andrew Fiss is associate professor of technical communication at Michigan Technological University. With an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Vassar College and graduate degrees in history and philosophy of science from Indiana University, he works in history of math, technical communication, and STS, and his book Performing Math: A History of Communication and Anxiety in the American Mathematics Classroom (2021) won the 2023 Best Book Award in Technical or Scientific Communication from the Conference on College Composition & Communication.
