{"id":298,"date":"2017-10-17T16:34:20","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T16:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/160-mscs\/mathandsocietyseries\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T18:12:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T18:12:11","slug":"mathandsocietyseries","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/speakerseries\/mathandsocietyseries\/","title":{"rendered":"MSCS and Society Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

Macalester\u2019s Department of Mathematics and Computer Science is host to the MSCS and Society Speaker Series, the purpose of which is to enhance classroom learning in mathematics or computer science through lectures by people prominent in these fields. These talks are free and open to the public. Neighbors of the college, students at local colleges, and high school students are especially encouraged to attend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The series was established in January 2001 and is made possible through the generous financial support of Macalester alumnus Kurt Winkelmann \u201978.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MSCS and Society Lecture, 2025-26<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ranthony Clark<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0Ph.D.
Duke University
Monday, February 2, 2026, 4:40 p.m.- 6:00 p.m.
John B. Davis Lecture Hall, Campus Center<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Title<\/strong>
A Case For Quantitative Justice<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advertisement<\/strong>
Quantitative Justice is an emerging interdisciplinary research field that asks a simple but powerful question:\u00a0How do the mathematical sciences interact with society?<\/em>\u00a0Bringing together ideas from mathematics, statistics, computer science, and data science, Quantitative Justice develops rigorous tools to investigate real-world systems that shape people\u2019s lives.

In this talk, I introduce the central ideas of Quantitative Justice and highlight examples from several research communities that show how mathematical approaches can illuminate questions of fairness and representation. I will also focus on my own work, which centers on voting rights and electoral redistricting, as an example of how quantitative methods can deepen our understanding of democratic processes.\u00a0

Along the way, we\u2019ll explore what it takes to view a social concern from a quantitative lens, and how doing so can generate both meaningful societal insights and rich mathematical problems. I will also reflect briefly on my path into this field and why Quantitative Justice offers exciting opportunities for students and scholars who want to use their quantitative skills in service of a better society.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Previous speakers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Year<\/strong><\/td>Speaker<\/strong><\/td>Affiliation<\/strong><\/td>Title<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
2025-26<\/td>Ranthony Clark<\/a><\/td>Duke University<\/td>A Case For Quantitative Justice<\/td><\/tr>
2024-25<\/td>Rebecca Hubbard<\/a><\/td>Brown University<\/td>Not so fast: Accelerating medical research with big data while safeguarding vulnerable
populations and research rigor<\/td><\/tr>
2023-24<\/td>Daniel Keefe<\/a><\/td> University of Minnesota<\/td>Designing Mixed-Reality and Tangible Data Experiences with Artists and Indigenous Communities<\/td><\/tr>
2022-23<\/td>Federico Ardila-Mantilla<\/a><\/td>San Francisco State University<\/td>\n

Geometry, Robots, and Society<\/p>\n<\/td><\/tr>

2021-22<\/td>Michael Osterholm<\/a><\/td>University of Minnesota<\/td>\n

A Conversation on Data and the Pandemic<\/p>\n<\/td><\/tr>

2019-20<\/td>Moon Duchin<\/a>
Karen Saxe<\/a><\/td>		Tufts University
American Mathematical Society<\/td>		\n

Mathematical Interventions in Fair Voting<\/p>\n<\/td><\/tr>

2018-19<\/td>Brent Hecht<\/a><\/td>Northwestern University<\/td>\n

The Origins, Present, and Future of Algorithmic Bias<\/p>\n<\/td><\/tr>

2017-18<\/td>Tim Chartier<\/a><\/td>Davidson College<\/td>Putting a Spring in Yoda’s Step<\/td><\/tr>
2016-17<\/td>Kristin Lauter<\/a><\/td>Microsoft Research<\/td>How to Keep Your Genome Secret<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2015-16<\/td>George Hart<\/a><\/td>Stony Brook University<\/td>From Mathematics to Sculpture<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2014-15<\/td>Peko Hosoi<\/a><\/td>MIT<\/td>From Razor Clams to Robots: The Mathematics Behind Biologically Inspired Design<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2013-14<\/td>Louis J Gross<\/a><\/td>University of Tennessee<\/td>“Best” in a Biological Context: Optimization Across the Biological Hierarchy<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2012-13<\/td>Bill Cook<\/a><\/td>Georgia Tech<\/td>The Traveling Salesman Problem: A Blueprint for Optimization<\/td><\/tr>
2011-12<\/td>David Kung<\/a><\/td>St. Mary’s College of Maryland<\/td>How Math Made Modern Music Mad Irrational<\/td><\/tr>
2010-11<\/td>Edward Belbruno<\/a><\/td>NASA Research Associate &
Professor at Princeton University<\/td>		Low Energy Pathways in Space, Chaos, and Origin of the Moon<\/td><\/tr>
2009-10<\/td>Jeff Weeks<\/a><\/td>Geometry Games<\/td>The Shape of Space<\/td><\/tr>
2008-09<\/td>Ann Watkins<\/a><\/td>California State University,
Northridge<\/td>		Fallacies in Elementary Statistics<\/td><\/tr>
2007-08<\/td>Bart de Smit<\/a><\/td>Leiden University
The Netherlands<\/td>		M.C. Escher and the Droste Effect<\/td><\/tr>
2006-07<\/td>Peter Hamburger<\/td>Western Kentucky University<\/td>The Art of Venn Diagrams<\/cite><\/td><\/tr>
2005-06<\/td>Doris Schattschneider<\/a><\/td>Moravian College<\/td> <\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2004-05<\/td>Helmer Aslaksen<\/td>National University of Singapore<\/td>The Mathematics of the Chinese, Indian, Islamic and Gregorian Calendars<\/td><\/tr>
2003-04<\/td>Herb Wilf<\/a><\/td>University of Pennsylvania<\/td> <\/cite><\/td><\/tr>
2002-03<\/td>Gil Strang<\/a><\/td>MIT<\/td><\/cite>
<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2001-02<\/td>Tom Banchoff<\/a><\/td>Brown University<\/td> <\/cite><\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2000-01<\/td>George Andrews<\/a><\/td>Penn State<\/td> <\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Macalester\u2019s Department of Mathematics and Computer Science is host to the MSCS and Society Speaker Series, the purpose of which is to enhance classroom learning in mathematics or computer science through lectures by people prominent in these fields. These talks are free and open to the public. Neighbors of the college, students at local colleges, […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":271,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-298","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2353,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/298\/revisions\/2353"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}