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Two-talk session:
14:30 - 15:30
Special Colloquium on Gender Equity, Feminist Activism, and Civil Rights in Mathematics
The Association for Women in Mathematics: Why It Was Founded, Why It's Still Needed, and What Students and Faculty Can Do Today
Abstract: Founded in 1971 during a surge of feminist and civil rights activity, the Association for Women in Mathematics is an international organization based in the United States and the oldest organization in the world devoted to women in mathematics. In this colloquium, we will look back at how and why AWM was formed, consider why its mission remains vital today, and explore ways that students and faculty can support everyone's full participation in mathematics.
15:45 - 16:45
Diameter Bounds for Sphere Quotients
Abstract: We discuss earlier work on diameter bounds for quotients of spheres by isometric group actions. After motivating the question of how small a nontrivial quotient can be, we describe lower bounds for diameters of spherical Alexandrov spaces and orbifolds arising from sphere quotients, together with later joint work with Bill Dunbar, Jill McGowan, and Catherine Searle on quotients of the 3-sphere and relationships with cohomogeneity. We also highlight subsequent developments related to dimension-independent bounds. Examples and geometric intuition will be emphasized. If time permits, I will conclude with a few remarks on more recent interests involving geometric limits arising in spacetime and relativity.
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