|
|
What happens at Mathcamp?There's so much going on at Mathcamp, it's impossible to do it all! With a wide selection of math all day long, and an even broader variety of nonacademic activites to enjoy the rest of the time, Mathcamp has all the ingredients of a fun-filled summer -- as long as you like math, that is! The Academic ScheduleIn designing the Mathcamp schedule, we have two goals:
During each class period, we aim to offer activities at different levels, on a variety of topics. We encourage our faculty to make creative use of their time and resources, and to make classes as interactive as possible, so that students will get an idea of what it is like to do mathematics, and not just to watch someone else doing it. Students are also allowed to choose freely which classes they attend based on how interesting or useful they find the material, thus giving us immediate feedback on how well each class is succeeding. A typical class day begins with a choice of interactive classes or activities from 9 to 10. For the rest of the morning, students have a choice of attending a guest lecture and workshop by a visiting researcher or of staying in smaller classes with their regular instructors. Lunch then provides, in addition to a break from academics, a chance for the students to interact more informally with the faculty, mentors, and often the visiting speakers. In the afternoon, there is a wide variety of classes and problem sessions on various topics, as well as time set aside for supervised work, both individually and in groups, on problems handed out in classes, individual projects, or whatever students find interesting. For academic schedules from past years, check out the Academic Program web page. You can see that the schedules are very full! There's so much math in the schedule, in fact, that we encourage students to take an hour or so off from math in the morning or afternoon to catch their breath; but many are too enthusiastic to follow this advice! RecreationAfter dinner there is free time for individual work and recreation, and informal social activites. In the evenings, there are sometimes more mathematical activities (such as mini-lectures by the mentors on their favorite topics, review sessions, introductions to the following day's guest lecture, math movies, and team problem-solving competitions), but more common are the many non-mathematical activites, sometimes organized by the staff, but often by the students themselves. Past events in this latter category have included chess, Scrabble, and bridge tournaments; sports events; musical groups; a camp yearbook (by now a tradition, and still almost exclusively student-produced); and excursions to cultural events in the city. The "Mathcamp week" of classes generally lasts from Tuesday through Saturday, with Sunday and Monday taken off for relaxation and field trips. A shifted schedule like this often allows us to avoid weekend crowds at large attractions by going on Monday. Each weekend usually has one large field trip, and several smaller ones from which the students can choose one or more to go on, or just to stay home and relax. Past field trips have included
There are also several traditional large social events. For many years, at the end of camp there has been a talent show at which the students and staff can show off their own, and appreciate each other's, non-mathematical accomplishments; you can see the program from 2003 online. Since 2001, a few of the counselors have been running a large-scale "Interactive Literature" game (often called "live-action role playing") which is very popular with students; you can take a look at the advertisements for the ILs from 2001, 2002, and 2003. Finally, 2008 will be the seventh year of the Mathcamp Puzzle Hunt, a team puzzle-solving race that nearly takes over the camp for a day or two; descriptions of the hunts from 2002 and 2003 are available online. |