Even if math was your most hated (or feared) subject, your grown-up self will be able to “get” the beauty of fractal geometry. It’s about patterns, ones that repeat infinitely, the smallest part of the whole being structured like the whole itself. Fractal geometry is a tool to describe how shapes in art, science, and nature intersect. It reveals how modern math permeates our world, hiding in plain sight. But the stunning beauty of fractal images can distract from their practical applications: dealing with complex coastlines, the structure of lightning, and the circulatory system’s intricacies. Join seasoned math professor Peggy Beauregard to explore fractals in art and architecture, modern engineering and medicine. She promises you need no math prerequisite. Zero. But she also promises you’ll emerge with a glorious new lens through which to view the world.
Peggy Mitchell Beauregard (BFA, Printmaking, Hartford Art School, MS Applied Mathematics, Rutgers U) is an assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Hartford. She has taught courses in mathematics for elementary teachers, math for non-stem and arts students (discrete topics, finance), precalculus and calculus. She created and teaches the interdisciplinary course "Symmetry and Harmony: Mathematics in Art and Music," which includes applications of fractals, tessellations, Fibonacci numbers and the Golden Ratio. Before teaching at the university level, Peggy taught art and math in inner city and suburban schools. She speaks regularly at national conferences, mostly to teachers and loves combining art and math to teach creative lessons that reach the diverse community of students in her classrooms.
Thursday, Feb. 15 | 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. | KF Room/Harrison Libraries/Harry Jack Gray Center | $20 | Register Here
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Faculty and staff are eligible to take one Presidents' College lecture for free every semester, or to receive a one-session discount ($20) for a longer course. Contact Laurie Fasciano at fasciano@hartford.edu or 860.768.4495.