I would like to work with two students who will work on two separate projects.

The first project involves research of the cosmic origin stories of various cultures around the globe over time. The student will collect and synthesize materials from published and/or primary sources that might be in the Harvard libraries on the various cosmogonies ranging from those of the Early-Mesopotamians to medieval European views of the Universe. The student is expected to do research, be creative in finding sources, and write up the myths/stories with proper bibliographies and extensive footnotes. An advanced undergraduate with excellent writing and critical skills and a strong interest in science would be an excellent fit.

The second project involves collection of data and statistics on mathematics education in the American school system. As with science, there appear to be barriers for girls and women in the study of mathematics. The idea is to probe the origin of “math phobia” from quantitative data and then try to devise interventions for numerical literacy programs/teaching of mathematics. This project involves research into pedagogy in mathematics and writing a document that will provide insight on what needs to be done and when to dispel this prevalent math phobia and push the popular cultural notion of “math is hard” to “math is cool."

I am really looking forward to mentoring undergraduates during my stay here, as one of the things I find most satisfying at Yale is involving undergraduates in my research projects.