MAA NCS Spring 2026 meeting

Invited Speaker: Annalisa Crannell (Interim Editor, The American Mathematical Monthly and Carmie L. and Beatrice J. Creitz Emerita Professor of Mathematics, Franklin & Marshall College)

Talk Title: Double Take: Geometry, Perspective, and Optical Illusions

Talk Abstract:  Perspective geometry, so it's said, was the art that made paintings seem realistic and true to life.  Yet the same artistic techniques---and by extension, the same geometry---can create images that astound and confound us.  We explore the geometry behind a carnival of such illusions, from images that seem to change shape as we move, to the impossible worlds of Escher and del Prete.

Invited Speaker: Yariana Diaz (MAA North Central Section NExT Speaker and Assistant Professor, Macalester College)

Talk Title: Follow the Arrows: Exploring the World of Quiver Representations

Talk Abstract:  A representation of a quiver is a way of describing a collection of vector spaces and the linear maps between them in a single diagram. The quiver itself is a directed graph of the underlying shape of the representation. We will explore some fundamental questions in quiver representation theory: When are two representations essentially the same? Is it possible to classify all representations of a given quiver? How do small changes in the quiver's shape affect its representations? I will also share my path in learning quiver representation theory, teaching it, and its connection to other areas of mathematics.