Events
The Department of Mathematics sponsors a regular colloquium that hosts several talks by
external speakers every year and a general faculty seminar for talks by faculty and
students. Seminars are listed below the colloquia.
Mathematics Colloquium
The next Mathematics Colloquium will likely take place during the Spring 2026 semester.
Recent Mathematics Colloquium Talks
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 10, 2025 | Connecting noticing of student thinking to responsive teaching in math and science |
Dr. Tara Barnhart, |
| Oct 27, 2025 | Introduction to statistical meta-analysis with an application |
Dr. Bimal Sinha, UMBC |
| Oct 21, 2025 | Large zeros of linear recurrence sequences |
Dr. Florian Luca, |
| Apr 25, 2025 | Defining connected components |
Dr. Alfred Dolich, |
| Apr 24, 2025 | Middle-school students’ meanings of points from quantitative and covariational reasoning perspectives |
Dr. Halil Tasova, |
| Mar 14, 2025 | A multi-species, multi-stimuli rheological model for living polymers | |
| Feb 13, 2025 | Using data science to understand patterns of social harm |
Dr. George Mohler, |
Seminar Meetings
The Mathematics Seminar is the venue where Towson faculty and students report on their research activities. The next talk will occur on Wednesday, January 28, when Dr. Chris Cornwell will present a sabbatical lecture on the Functional Dimension of ReLU Neural Networks.
Abstract. Associated to the parameters of a neural network with a ReLU activation function is a number called the functional dimension. Roughly speaking, the functional dimension measures the number of degrees of freedom for determining a new network function by perturbing the parameters, as is done during network training. For a choice of network and parameters, a tight upper bound on the functional dimension is known – one that is strictly less than the number of parameters; conditions under which the functional dimension is strictly less than that upper bound have been explored, and it is an active area of research.
In this talk, after an introduction to the ideas above, I will discuss my contributions to this area. Several recent works by others have focused on the existence of a positive measure subset of parameters that achieve the upper bound. Using standard assumptions on initial parameters as random variables, my collaborators and I explore the probability of getting initial parameters that fail to achieve the upper bound.
In addition several research groups have research seminars in their respective research areas:
- ASRM Seminar (coordinated by Min Ji):
Meets on Fridays at 10 am - Number Theory Seminar (coordinated by A. Kumchev and N. McNew):
Meets on Tuesdays at 4:30 pm in YR 320.
Recent and Upcoming Seminars
- October 16, 2025: Number Theory Seminar.
Dr. Spencer Hamblen, McDaniel College, gave at talk on Sums of k-th powers in ramified p-adic rings. - September 16, 2025: Number Theory Seminar.
Dr. Vefa Goksel gave a talk on Square patterns in dynamical orbits. - April 11, 2025: ASRM Speaker Series.
William Logan '09, FSA, gave a talk on Stable value fund dynamics: Understanding withdrawal patterns through experience studies. - April 8, 2025: Number Theory Seminar.
Dr. Russell Hendel gave a talk on A family of sequences generalizing the Thue-Morse and Rudin-Shapiro sequences. - March 11, 2025: Number Theory Seminar.
Dr. David Hubbard gave a talk on Computing the p-part of the class group. - March 4, 2025: Number Theory Seminar.
Vishal Gupta, University of Delaware, gave a talk on the Minimum spectral radius in a given class of graphs. - February 25, 2025: Number Theory Seminar.
Dr. William Craig, US Naval Academy, gave a talk on Quasimodular forms, q-multiple zeta values, and partitions. - November 21, 2024: Number Theory Seminar.
Alexander Kalogirou, University of South Carolina, gave a talk on Disjoint covering systems. - November 15, 2024: ASRM Speaker Series.
Shelby Cimino, ASA, gave a talk on Actuarial modeling: An overview. - September 10, 2024: Number Theory Seminar.
Dr. Edinah Gnang, Johns Hopkins University, gave a talk on All trees on n edges decompose the complete bipartite graph \(K_{n,n}\). - August 20, 2024: Number Theory Seminar.
Dr. Harald Helfgott, Institut de Mathématiques de Jussieu, gave a talk on Expansion, divisibility and parity.
Recent Mathematics Seminar & Sabbatical Talks
- On November 17, 2025, Dr. Vincent Guingona presented a sabbatical lecture on Applications of Model Theory to Statistical Learning Theory.
- On November 3, 2025, Dr. Kimberly Corum presented a sabbatical lecture on Leveraging Justice-Centered Making to Support Mathematics Teaching and Learning.
- On April 7, 2025, Dr. Banghee So, gave a seminar on A Novel Neural Network Model with Predictive Power and Interpretability for Insurance Pricing.
- On March 24, 2025, Dr. Jing Tian presented a sabbatical lecture on Parameter Analysis in Continuous Data Assimilation for Various Turbulence Models.
- On February 24, 2025, Dr. Sebastian Calvo presented a seminar on the Waldschmidt Constant of Complex Reflection Groups.
- On October 16, 2024, Dr. Min Deng presented a sabbatical lecture on Bayesian Inference for the Loss Models via Mixture Priors.
- On September 30, 2024, Dr. Melike Kara Atas presented a sabbatical lecture on Improving Pre-Service Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching Fraction Concepts.