Multicultural Mathematics Dr. Rachel Hall Saint Joseph’s University

Mayan Mathematics & The Dresden Codex

Course web sites

• NEW! Excursions in Mathematics (Math 1011), Fall 09.
• Multicultural Mathematics course web site for Fall 04.
• Multicultural Mathematics course web site for Fall 03.
• Multicultural Mathematics course web site for Fall 02.
• Multicultural Mathematics course web site for Fall 01.

Handouts from my presentations on Multicultural Mathematics

• A Course on Multicultural Mathematics. (PDF)  This article explains the philosophy behind the course and gives demonstration problems.
• Handout.A handout I wrote about this course for Mathfest.
• Slides from my presentation at Mathfest.

Sources for the mathematics of drumming I haven’t found many resources for this topic, so I’ve created my own.  Please let me know if you find the worksheets and MIDI drum program helpful.

• Rachel W. Hall.  Math for Poets and Drummers.  Preprint, 2005.  Intended for teachers of mathematics or undergraduate math students.
• Article (PDF)
• “Math for Poets and Drummers” presentation, Arcadia University, February 15, 2005.
• Slides (PDF, with linked MIDI and .WAV audio)
• “Math for Poets and Drummers” presentation, Dean's Colloquium, Saint Joseph's University, October 14, 2004.
• Slides (PDF, with linked MIDI and .WAV audio)
• Math for Poets and Drummers : presentation at the Joint Mathematics Meetings, January 2004
• MIDI examples from this talk:  Binary division of the measure.  Jig time. Waltz time. Uniform rhythm.

• Class notes
• Introduction to rhythms.
• Introduction to ABCDrums.
• Class notes on polyrhythms.
• Class notes on compositional structure.
• The tihai ending and arithmetic series.  Notes on some structures from Indian classical music.
• Quiz and exercises.
• Class notes on the mathematics of poetry, including Hemacandra's discovery of the Fibonacci numbers.
• Composathon class exercise.  Patterns for the exercise.

• Web resources for the mathematics of drumming.
• The Rhythm Catalog  Lots of world rhythms written in drum notation.
• SongTrellis MIDI files of African, Afro-Cuban and Swing rhythms

• ABCDrums  program for producing MIDI files of your compositions

• Vocabulary list of musical and mathematical terms. 

• Student compositions
• Brian Centanni
• Kate McCormick
• Demo Compositions
• Ten O'Clock Serenade:  demo composition that I wrote to demonstrate the techniques we studied in class, with class notes.
• Waiting for Mr. Triangle:  demo composition that I wrote to demonstrate the techniques we studied in class, with class notes.

Images are from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive.

Rachel W. Hall / Department of Mathematics / St. Joseph's University / rhall@sju.edu / revised August 28th, 2009