Dr. Nathan Carlson
 |
Postdoctoral Faculty, Department of Mathematics, University of Arizona Office: Math 319 Phone: 520-621-6870, Fax: 520-621-8322 E-mail: ncarlson@math.arizona.edu Office hours: WF 9-10, W 2-3, & F 12-1, or by appointment. Also, calculus tutoring W 12-1. |
Where have I been?
Mathematics has lead me along a curious and winding road. After a B.A. in math from Oberlin College, an irresistible desire to see the world took hold of me. Thus it came to be that I spent two years teaching high school mathematics in Botswana as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Returning to the U.S. a grizzled veteran of African travel, I completed a doctorate in point-set topology in 2006 at the University of Kansas under the superb auspices of Prof. Jack Porter.
Where am I now?
I find myself in the third and final year of a teaching postdoctoral program in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Arizona. My time is mainly spent teaching everything from College Algebra to Topology. Yet the lure and elegance of point-set topology research continues to engage me, in particular I seem to be fascinated with homogeneous spaces and H-closed spaces. Investigations into homogeneous spaces took me to Amsterdam in the summer of 2008 where I worked with co-author Guit-Jan Ridderbos at Vrije Universiteit. I've also been known to co-coordinate the department Mathematics Instruction Colloquium with Matt Salomone, co-found the Tucson Teachers' Circle (a part of the Institute for Mathematics and Education) with Ginny Bohme, run independent studies for graduate students in topology, and write the course description for the undergraduate topology course. Otherwise, you can look for me out hiking somewhere (probably lost) in the serene beauty of the Sonoran desert.
Where am I going?
Professional asperations include further refining my teaching, general explorations into the nature of how we really learn mathematics, continued research in point-set topology, and founding another Teachers' Circle.
