On a personal note, three things everyone knows about me:
- I have my Ph.D. in Mathematics. I got my degree from Caltech. My thesis is in a fairly abstract area of mathematics called algebraic combinatorics.
- My main hobby is playing and designing boardgames. I play (and design) what are called "Eurogames". The Economist recently had an article about Eurogames. While I don't care for their nationalistic stereotyping, the article has a decent description of eurogames. To read (and buy) these kinds of games, Fun Again is a good internet resource. It's not necessarily the cheapest, but it's easy to use and has good reviews and resources. I occasionally do some work for Cambridge Games Factory, who are publishing two of my games, with the first one (tentatively) schedule to come out later this year.
- I love to read. As a child, I was a voracious reader, reading hundreds of books a year. While most of my currently reading is online, nothing compares to a good book. I used to read fantasy and sci-fi fairly heavily. Lately, however I've been reading more non-fiction. Recently I've read The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon (fiction) and Masquerade: the amazing decapitations of WWI, by Seymour Reit (non-fiction), both of which I greatly enjoyed.
I hope to flesh out this blog with links to various math and education related resources when I have time.
9 comments:
Hi Rebecca,
Well you certainly have an interesting backgrounder.
Looking forward to getting to know you better.
Kristina
Hi Rebecca,
Thanks for the links and interesting articles. Well done on the games publishing! What kind of theme do your games have?
-Jen
Hi Rebecca,
I am one of those people who is a *mathphobic* -- Just the thought of numbers makes me hyperventilate.
But thanks for the links they look interesting.
Hi Rebecca-
Great post. I enjoyed the Economist article on Eurogames. One of my colleagues sponsors a Gaming club at the college. They meet every week in the library to play board games, but I'm not sure what games they have. Can you recommend a few of these games that college students might enjoy?
Best-
Lynee
PS - I think it's fantastic that your whole dissertation is online for free! Now, if all universities would do the same....
Jim-
The game coming out later this year has an ancient Norse theme (Ragnarok/Valhalla) the one after that has an outer space/routing theme.
Linnae-
I run a gamin club as well. As for game recommendations, there are many many genres of games within the Eurogame designation. The Fun Again website I listed has recommendations (and descriptions) for a wide variety of game genres.
Here are some suggestions:
-Ticket to Ride
-Ra
-Power Grid
-Vinci
-Fist of Dragonstones
-Race for the Galaxy
-Princes of Florence
-Shadows over Camelot
-Tigris and Euphrates
-Carcassonne
-Goa
-Galaxy Trucker
These cover a wide selection of game types, lengths, and difficulty levels. The Fun Again reviews can tell you more about them.
Hi Rebecca,
Nice to cross paths again. I am also a big reader but haven't found the time with courses and work. However, this summer I vowed books I read at the beach would be for fun so I read non-fiction Jodi Picout etc.
Your boardgames sound interesting. My nephew is at UMass Amherst in the engineering program, they sound like they would be of interest to him as well.
Regards,
Ginny
Hi Rebecca,
It's always good to see a familiar face on the roster.
Bonnie
Hi Rebecca,
I was fascinated to see you educational background, your nature of job and the interest in Instructional Design.
Great posting!
Saras
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