I began teaching as an undergraduate and have always found it both fun and deeply fulfilling. However, in grad school, one's teaching responsibilities are often expected to take a back seat to research. After several years pursuing my PhD in Topology, I am eager to find a position which will encourage me to make teaching my first priority. I will appreciate the opportunity to continue my scholarly pursuits, as the luxury of focusing on my own intellectual development during graduate school has been enjoyable and stimulating. However, as the novelty has worn off, the fact that this is a luxury has become more obvious, and it has become even more clear that teaching, while somewhat incidental to my degree, is the most rewarding aspect of it. Any position is particularly appealing which would encourage me to pursue excellence in the classroom. I also particularly enjoyed coaching crew and cross country, and would love to do so at my next position.
I'm interested in developing curricula which introduce topics such as knot theory, graph theory, combinatorics and algebra to novice mathematicians. I've also taught a course on the overlap between mathematics and music, and I'm interested in developing this course further and investigating other interdisciplinary options such as math and physics or math and computer science.
My dream job would allow me to spend most years working with and learning from colleagues who are enthusiastic, experienced and innovative, while granting me time occasionally to pursue a particular type of professional development; I'd like to have the opportunity to teach disadvantaged students in schools which can't always guarantee excellence in teaching.
I have a wide range of teaching experience, ranging from after-school volunteer work with disadvantaged seven year olds in Boston to instructing at private boarding schools to teaching precalculus at Berkeley. While the introductory knot theory and algebraic topology courses I've assisted with have certainly been among my favorite courses to teach at the college level, I've enjoyed teaching calculus and linear algebra courses and particularly appreciate the challenge of introducing undergraduates to proofwork for the first time.
My research is in algebraic and geometric topology, an area which still has many rich areas of study available which may be accessible to undergraduates, particularly in its intersections with physics, computer science and combinatorics. Undergraduates and even high school students may approach these topics from a geometric or combinatorial viewpoint in order to do research and acquaint themselves with the flavor of mathematics without having to grapple with the sophisticated analytical underpinnings.