Mathematics Awareness Month Public Lecture Series

Math Awareness Month is held each year in March or April.  Its goal is to increase public understanding of and appreciation for mathematics. To that end, Cornell's Department of Mathematics sponsors an annual public lecture. To learn more about Awareness Month and its history, go to: https://ww2.amstat.org/mathstatmonth

Math Awareness Month Public Lecture: Thursday, March 20, 2025

The lecture will be held in 253 Malott Hall at 4:30 p.m. There will be a reception prior to the lecture in 532 Malott Hall at 4:00 p.m.

Speaker:  Moon Duchin, Cornell University

Math Awareness Month Poster

Title/Abstract:

Title:  How to vote better

Abstract:  When it comes to voting, systems matter!  The exact same preferences can lead to different outcomes depending on what data is solicited on the ballot and how it is aggregated into a decision.  I want to tell you about some hot-off-the-presses new work that takes a hard look at why some voting rules might be preferable to others.  To get there, we'll have to update our fairness thinking -- for voting, many fairness ideas stem from economists' formalizations in the 1950s -- and take an interdisciplinary perspective.  I'll use examples from Alabama, New Zealand, Oregon, Ontario County, NY, and the Cornell Math Department as grist for the thinking mill.  


Campus and parking information:

Previous Lectures in the Series

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