Univ. of Nebraska - Lincoln, Dept. of Math. and Stat. - Colloquium Description

University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Department of Mathematics and Statistics

THE COLLOQUIUM

In our Department, all faculty and graduate students attend the colloquium. Because our interests are highly diverse, it is essential that the speaker give a talk which is accessible (at least in good part) to a varied audience. Giving such talks is a difficult art, and there is no pat formula, but we can make some suggestions:
  1. Please remember at all times that you are not speaking to an audience of specialists, or even to a broad category of people such as "pure mathematicians", "applied mathematicians", or "statisticians". If you would prefer to talk to a narrower audience, please please ask your host to schedule you to give seminar talk(s) instead.
  2. Eschew jargon or take a moment to explain it. On the other hand, a talk based on a stream of elementary definitions is likely to be dull.
  3. Use your favorite vehicle for transmitting information (blackboard, overhead projector, or other), but do so at a reasonable rate. Almost certainly, few of us will be able to absorb material placed on transparencies, unless it is printed in a very large (at least fourteen point) font.
  4. A picture is worth a thousand words. You only have fifty minutes to communicate, and so it may be better to inform our intuition graphically, rather than to give a precise explanation of every concept.
  5. Audiences love context. If Gauss thought about the problem, tell us. We like to hear about connections with other areas of mathematics and/or other sciences. Exhaustive lists of names and dates are usually of interest only to the specialists.
  6. Show us an example. It is remarkable how effective this can be in reaching out to people who might otherwise not know what you are talking about.
  7. Grab our interest with a special case. After the lecture, we can go to the library to learn more.
Facilities. The colloquium room has several blackboards and is equipped with two overhead projectors and two screens. There is also an internet connection in the room.

Time. The colloquium is on Thursday. The room is reserved for a full hour (3:30 -- 4:30) but we ask that you speak for only FIFTY minutes.

THANK YOU!