Sonia Kovalevsky Day at Dartmouth
Saturday, May 2, 2026
About Sonia Kovalevsky Day
Sonia Kovalevsky Day is a fun-filled day of mathematics with hands-on workshops and talks for middle and high school students and their teachers. Originally started and funded by the Association for Women in Mathematics, the purpose of the day is to encourage young women to continue their study of mathematics and to assist the teachers of mathematics students. The Dartmouth Math Department hosts this event annually with the goal of inspiring young students to pursue degrees in the mathematical sciences and to honor female mathematicians such as Sonia Kovalevsky, who paved the way with her groundbreaking work and was a strong proponent of higher education for women.
We are delighted to hold this empowering event in person once again. Join us for a day of networking, mentoring, and fun!
Sponsored by:
- Dartmouth College, Department of Mathematics
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Dartmouth College, Office of the Provost
This Year's Program
Registration: Kemeny Hall, First Floor
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9:00–9:45 |
Breakfast and Icebreaker |
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9:45 |
Welcome |
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10:00–11:00 |
Workshop 1: Mathemagic Abstract: Sometimes unfamiliar math can seem like magic, and fortunately for us, we can harness its truths to design magic tricks! We will learn about a number of card tricks that use probability and combinatorics, seeking both to understand why they work mathematically and how to perform them. By the end of this workshop, you will all become mathemagicians! (Workshop Leaders: Beth Anne Castellano, David Shuster, Friedrich Bauermeister) |
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11:15–12:15 |
Workshop 2: Parking Lot Catalysts: From Cars to Catalan Numbers and Trees Abstract: Imagine a one‑way parking lot with $n$ spaces and exactly $n$ cars arriving one after another. Each driver has a favorite spot; if the spot is free, they park there, otherwise they drive forward until they find the next empty spot. If a driver reaches the end of the lot without finding a spot, they must leave! How can we ensure everyone can park? In this activity we’ll discover the rules that make a list of preferences so that every car can park. We'll explore how many such lists exist, and we'll see that there are nice correspondences between these lists and many other mathematical objects! (Workshop Leaders: GaYee Park, Michaela Polley, Ahmad Reza Haj Saeedi Sadegh) |
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12:15–1:15 |
Lunch |
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1:15–2:15 |
Workshop 3: The World of Graphs and the Graphs of the World Abstract: Graphs are the objects used in mathematics to understand real-life networks, from groups of friends or social media to ecosystems or the internet. In this interactive workshop, we will think about many examples and try to draw different types of graphs. Through this exploration, we will discover the math behind networks, including how to measure connections (degree sequences) and how to build a graph that never crosses itself (planarity). (Workshop Leaders: Alejandro Galvan, Allison Tsypin, Abhishek Mallick) |
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2:30–3:00 |
Social Activity |
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3:00 |
Evaluations and Closing |