Biography
- I have taught courses at all levels of Holy Cross' undergraduate curriculum, including Calculus, Principles of Real Analysis, Algebraic Structures, Mathemematical Structures, Linear Algebra, Modern Algebra, Number Theory, Cryptography, and Combinatorics.
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I have also developed specialty courses for the College's Montserrat Program, a first-year seminar program with an emphasis on writing and discussion, and the College Honors Program. Previous seminars have included some flavor of Mathematics of Art and Architecture. In recent years, I have taught a year-long sequence in Montserrat on the history and mathematics of cryptology. This seminar consists of the following courses:
Ciphers and Heroes (Fall)
How are secret codes constructed? What weaknesses allow them to be cracked by clever analysts? Welcome to cryptology, the scientific study of encoding and decoding secret messages. We’ll explore the mathematics behind codes and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of historically significant cryptosystems, including the nomenclator used by Mary Queen of Scots in her quest to dethrone Queen Elizabeth, and most thrillingly, the ENIGMA machine used during World War II. Along the way, we’ll delve into the lives of code creators and the clever analysts who cracked the codes, including the Polish and British heroes who cracked the seemingly unbreakable ENIGMA. (Students in this course should have a strong competence in high school algebra, and an aptitude for analytical thinking.)
Privacy in the Digital Age (Spring)
How does Amazon.com keep your payment information secure when you order online? Does the nature of social media influence the way you present yourself and interact with others online? Is there a divide between your actual self, and your digital self? Secure electronic communication is vital to modern society in many ways, and cryptosystems are at the heart of this. These mathematical systems rely on the stunning development of public key cryptography, a concept born in the computer revolution of the 1970s. In this seminar, we will focus on these modern cryptosystems, the visionaries who created them, and the advances in computing that make them secure. We will also examine the significant impact that electronic communication has on the self. (Students in this course should have a strong competence in high school algebra, and an aptitude for analytical thinking.)