Andre P. Oliveira

Diophantine approximations at first blush

4 min read. 17 Nov 2020 How do we build round things in the real world? Of course $\pi$ is involved, but it’s irrational. How then do we get precise measurements? Fortunately the universe is kind and allows for some imprecision. We don’t need to be precise, we just need to be close enough.

Virtual Talks

3 min read. 16 Nov 2020 This past weekend the Midwest Dynamical Systems Early Career Conference was held. It included a number of plenary speakers and poster sessions, all virtual of course. It was lovely! I’m collecting these as a note to myself and others of why virtual conferences can be a great asset to the mathematical community and an idea or two on how to improve them.

I'm teaching pedagogy!

2 min read. 31 Aug 2020 I’m very excited to be teaching the Math department’s Pedagogy course this year! I took the Pedagogy course during my first year. Since then I have put that knowledge to good use as an instructor four times and have grown as both an instructor and student. While I’m still improving and growing as an instructor, I’m looking forward to spending this time explicitly reviewing mathematical pedagogy and discussing it with others.

What is a 'Directed Reading Program'?

3 min read. 02 Sep 2019 This past year I had the pleasure and privilege of participating in two amazing Directed Reading Programs (DRPs). I plan to write a few more posts on the DRP we have set up at Wesleyan as well as some of the specific DRPs I took part in.

A pedagogic moment at a conference

2 min read. 12 Jul 2018 Recently, I was at a Math conference for graduate students. I think I’ve taken away some new Math from it, but I was reminded of a very important learning/teaching lesson during a talk. It’s an easy lesson to forget, which is why I’m writing it here as a reminder to myself and others.