Multicultural Mathematics Math 1011 Section 101 Fall 2003 Dr. Rachel Hall Saint Joseph's University Mayan Mathematics & The Dresden Codex

Welcome to the class web site for Multicultural Mathematics!

Topics we'll cover this semester: 

• Number systems and arithmetic.  Spoken numbers, body counting, counting devices, written numbers, bases, modular arithmetic, algorithms for arithmetical operations
• Beyond the counting numbers.  Egyptian fractions, sexagesimals and decimals, rational and irrational numbers, estimating square roots, estimating pi
• Areas and the Pythagorean theorem.  The derivation of area formulas, geometric proofs of the Pythagorean theorem, the concept of proof, Pythagorean triples
• Special topics in mathematics, art, and music.
• The mathematics of sona drawings and Celtic knots.  Art and the GCD and LCM, traceable graphs, knot theory
• The mathematics of drumming.  Rhythm and Fibonacci numbers, Pascal's triangle, the GCD and LCM, the algebra of composition

• Syllabus.Includes course description, course expectations, and grading policies.
• Homework assignments.
• Review for Test 2.
• Review for the Final Exam  Includes essay questions.
• Projects.. Description of class projects.
• Project 1: number systems
• Project 2: drum composition
• Tutoring.My recommendations & your options.
• Web resources for the mathematics of drumming.
• abcdrums  program for producing MIDI files of your compositions
• Vocabulary list of musical and mathematical terms.  I'll update this to reflect terms we've discussed in class.
• Class notes on the mathematics of poetry, including Hemacandra's discovery of the Fibonacci numbers.
• Class notes on compositional structure, the tihai ending, and arithmetic series.
• Class notes on polyrhythms.
• 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.
• The Rhythm Catalog  Lots of world rhythms written in drum notation.
• SongTrellis MIDI files of African, Afro-Cuban and Swing rhythms
• Turning off QuickTime.  This should allow Internet Explorer to play MIDI files, so you don't have to save them on the Desktop.

Rachel W. Hall / Department of Math and Computer Science / Saint Joseph's University / rhall@sju.edu