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Mathematical Circles are a form of education enrichment and outreach that bring mathematicians and mathematical scientists into direct contact with pre-college students. These students, and sometimes their teachers, meet with mathematical professionals in an informal setting, after school or on weekends, to work on interesting problems or topics in mathematics. The goal is to get the students excited about the mathematics, giving them a setting that encourages them to become passionate about mathematics.
Originally inspired by the Eastern European problem-discussion approach to math education, Math Circles can have a variety of styles. Some are very informal, with the learning proceeding through games, stories, or hands-on activities. Others are more traditional enrichment classes, but without formal examinations. Some have a strong emphasis on preparing for Olympiad competitions; some avoid competition as much as possible. Models can use any combination of these techniques, depending on the audience, the mathematician, and the environment of the circle.
Athletes have sports teams that deepen their involvement with sports; math circles can play a similar role for kids who like to think about math. One thing all math circles have in common is that the students enjoy learning mathematics, and the circle gives them a social context in which to do so.
Resources for Math Circles and Similar Programs
Circle in a Box (20MB Adobe PDF file) - This is the primary resource for people interested in creating their own Math Circle Program. Edited for MSRI by Sam Vandervelde of the Stanford Math Circle, Circle in the Box includes best practice stories from successful program organizers intermixed with lesson plans, logistical advice and funding suggestions.
National Association of Math Circle - Coming soon!
This organization will provide a support structure for Math Circles and similar programs. Specific organizational goals include maintenance of a database of existing programs, recruitment of new Math Circle chapters, and development of a National Math Circle Website (http://mathcircles.org) that will include a database of potential Math Circle speakers, a database of programs and organizer contact information, a coherent set of links to other resources, and perhaps even a chat room to allow for discussion of problems related to Math Circles among the members.
If you are interested in being involved with the creation of the National Math Circle Organization, contact us!
Existing Math Circle Programs
If you are aware of any unlisted programs, please contact us
Albany Area Math Circle (Albany, NY) http://albanyareamathcircle.blogspot.com/
Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY) - contact Greg Landweber, gregland(at)bard.edu
Berkeley Math Circle (Berkeley, CA) http://mathcircle.berkeley.edu/
Brigham Young University Math Circle (Provo, UT) http://www.math.byu.edu/~wright/Math%20Circle/BYU_MathCircle.html
Circle for Teachers (San Jose, CA) http://www.theteacherscircle.org
Charlotte Teacher’s Circle (Charlotte, NC) http://www.math.uncc.edu/~hbreiter/TeachersCircle/index.htm
Charlotte Math Club (Davidson, NC) http://www.davidson.edu/math/cmc/
Chicago Math Circle (Chicago, IL) http://www.latin.pvt.k12.il.us/academics/special_initiatives/math/
Colorado Math Circle (Boulder, CO) http://www.coloradomath.org/
DC Math Circle (District of Columbia) http://home.gwu.edu/~dullman/dcmc/index.html
Explore Math Program (UC Davis, Davis, CA) http://explore.math.ucdavis.edu/
Flint Math Circle (Flint, MI) http://flintmathcircle.kettering.edu/
Florida Math Circle (Florida Student Association of Mathematics, Florida) http://www.flsam.tk/
GiftedMath Program (SUNY Buffalo, NY) http://giftedmath.buffalo.edu/
Iowa State University Math Circle (Ames, IA)- contact Elgin Johnston, ehjohnst(at)iastate.edu
Irvine Math Circle (Irvine, CA) http://www.math.uci.edu/~mathcirc/
Kid Math (Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI) http://www.math.msu.edu/~mshapiro/KidMath/KidMath.html
Lehman College Math Circle (Bronx, NY) http://comet.lehman.cuny.edu/mathcircle/
Los Angeles Math Circle (Los Angeles, CA) http://www.math.ucla.edu/~radko/circles/
The Math Circle in Boston (Boston, MA) http://www.themathcircle.org/
Metroplex Math Circle (UT Dallas, Dallas, TX) http://mmc.awesomemath.org/
Miami Math Circle (Florida International University, Miami, FL) http://mathcircles.fiu.edu/
Mobile Math Circle in South Alabama (Mobile, AL) http://www.southalabama.edu/mathstat/non-css-mathcircle.shtml
New York Math Circle (New York, NY) http://www.nymathcircle.org/
Oakland/ East Bay Math Circle & Circle for Teachers (Oakland, CA) http://oebtc.mathcircles.org
Oakland Math Circle (Oakland,CA) http://philo.exploratorium.edu/~jcarter
Orange County Math Circle (Irvine, CA) http://www.avidacademy.com/community/orange-county-math-circle/
Palo Alto Math Circle (Palo Alto, CA) http://www.castilleja.org/faculty/josh_zucker/bamo/circles/PaloAlto/
Penn State Math Circle (State College, PA) - Under Construction, Contact Sergei Tabachnikov, tabachni(at)math.psu.edu
Riverbend Math Circle (Mishawaka, IN) http://riverbendmath.org/math_circle/
San Diego Math Circle (San Diego, CA) http://www.sdmathcircle.org
San Francisco Math Circle and Circle for Teachers (San Francisco, CA) http://www.sfmathcircle.org/
San Jose Math Circle (San Jose, CA) http://www.sanjosemathcircle.org/
Seattle Infinity Math Circle (Seattle, CA) http://simathcircle.org/
Stanford Math Circle (Palo Alto, CA) http://www.stanfordmathcircle.org/
St. Mark’s Institute of Mathematics (Southborough, MA) http://www.stmarksschool.org/academics/mathinstitute.aspx
Utah Math Circle (Salt Lake City, UT) http://www.math.utah.edu/mathcircle/
UT Austin Saturday Morning Math Group (Austin,TX) http://www.ma.utexas.edu/users/smmg/
Washington University in St. Louis Math Circle (St. Louis, MO) http://www.dehn.wustl.edu/~blake/circles/about/
Waterloo Math Circle(Waterloo, Ontario, Canada) http://www.cemc.uwaterloo.ca/english/mathcircles/index.shtml
Winnipeg Grant Park High School Math Circle (Winnipeg, Canada) http://www.wsd1.org/grantpark/clubs/mathcircle/
Wyoming Math Circle (Laramie, WY) http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/UW_MATH_CIRCLE/
Summer Programs
Canada/USA Mathcamp! http://www.mathcamp.org/
Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics http://www.hcssim.org/
Texas A&M Summer Educational Enrichment in Math (College Station, TX) http://www.math.tamu.edu/outreach/SEE-Math/
Upcoming Math Circle Workshops & Other Events
How to run a Teacher’s Circle (AIM, Palo Alto, CA) & (Washington, DC)
The first session will be at the American Institute of Mathematics (AIM) in Palo Alto, CA during the week of June 16–20, and the second will be held at MAA's Carriage House Conference Center, Washington, DC during the week of July 21–25 .
website: http://www.aimath.org/ARCC/workshops/tcircleX.html
The workshop, "How to run a Teacher’s Circle" will equip teams from various geographical regions with everything they need to organize and operate a successful Teacher’s Circle. Participation is entirely free of charge, thanks to the generous support of our sponsors. Applications will be evaluated beginning in mid-March and the process will continue until all seven teams have been selected.
Math Circle Summer Teacher Training Institute (Campus of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana)
July 6th to 12th, 2008
website: http://www.themathcircle.org/
Demonstrations of our approach, practice sessions in running Math Circles, discussions of theory and practice, and conversations about selected math topics will be hosted by Bob and Ellen Kaplan, Amanda Serenevy and Sam Lichtenstein.
How to Run a Successful Math Circle - Math Fest Mini Course (Madison, WI)
Part 1: Thursday, July 31, 3:30 p.m. 5:30 p.m., Part 2: Saturday, August 2, 1:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.
In this mini-course participants will be involved in two abbreviated math circles led by the organizers trying their
hand at developing math circles of their own. In addition, there will be discussions of the history, goals, and
achievements of existing math circles, as well as suggestions on how to start and maintain new circles.
Past Math Circle Workshops and Other Events
- National Math Circle (NMC)Reception during the AMS/MAA Joint Mathematics Meeting
Open for All Math Circle and Similar Program Organizers.
Tuesday January 8, 2008 from 7-9PM (San Diego,CA).
Meeting Minutes (.pdf)
- Panel: The San Francisco Bay Area Math Circles A Decade Later
MAA Math Fest Panel. August 4, 2007 (San Jose, CA)
- How to Run a Teacher's Math Circle
AIM Workshop. June 18-22, 2007 (Palo Alto, CA)
Organized by Tom Davis, Mary Fay-Zenk, Tatiana Shubin and Joshua Zucker
http://aimath.org/ARCC/workshops/teacherscircle.html
Interested in Learning More?
Brandy Wiegers, info@mathcircles.org
National Math Circle Coordinator and Director of the Oakland / East Bay Math Circle and Olympiads
Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
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