Written in conjunction with Gus Papasan, Michael Harrell, and Mia Lawson

Since 1978, the Brown Symposium has posed thought-provoking subjects to students, staff, and visitors alike. Funded through an endowment established by the Brown Foundation Inc., the event was designed to enhance the effectiveness of the work of endowed professorships. In simpler terms, the event showcases the knowledge of Southwestern’s own esteemed faculty. This year’s symposium, Visualising the Abstract, aimed to make the intangible tangible through storytelling, craft, and other forms of artistic expression. The symposium featured speakers who work with a variety of visual media from metal to filmmaking for a common goal: to visualize abstract or complex concepts for the naked eye. With eleven events, six speakers, and an art exhibition, the symposium offered a variety of experiences to cater to any viewer no matter their interest.

Guest speakers included Dr. Jola Ajibade, a scholar-activist in the Environmental Sciences department at Emory University; Jeremy Sickey, a creator of fine animation for TED-Ed; George Hart, a sculptor who transforms mathematical ideas into pieces of art; Raj Patel, an award-winning author and film-maker; Alex Rosenthal, the Editorial Director of TED-Ed Animations;and lastly, Margaret Wertheim, a science writer and artist who draws relationships between science and the wider cultural landscapes through art. The exhibition offered in tandem with the symposium was Crossed Paths and Hyperbolics by Daina Taimina and Victoria Star Varner. This exhibition transformed abstract concepts such as hyperbolic planes into tangible art, expanding upon the earlier exhibition Star Varner: A Retrospective.

Film Viewing and Discussion

Before the symposium officially began, it worked in tandem with an environmental justice symposium to screen and host a discussion on the film The Ants and the Grasshopper. This film, directed by Raj Patel, who later spoke at the Brown Symposium, reflects on how climate change disproportionately affects other countries. The film follows Anita Chitaya, a woman from Malawi, and her journey in convincing Americans that climate change is real. In Chitaya’s own words, “change starts with denial”. This denial was expanded upon in discussion of the film, raising how awareness of subjects such as climate change – or lack thereof – perpetuates ignorance, and therefore the problem. The film and discussion also explored the connection between race, gender, and religion as factors in a willingness to change. The Ants and the Grasshopper puts into perspective how legacies of ignorance, colonialism, and capitalism affect those around the world, putting faces to the need for action regarding climate change.

“Sculpting the Abstract”

George Hart began our symposium with a gift. A gift he cannot truly explain – unless you’re a fan of linear algebra and other forms of mathematics. His pieces, including Frabjulous and Mutual Support, require lots of planning and care to have each piece fit correctly. His sculptures are based on mathematical principles such as icosahedral symmetry, composing and rotating each piece to create work that transform complex mathematics into stunning art. Here at Southwestern, he recently installed a piece built right here on campus. Made of 150 pieces, the five-sculpture installation now graces the atrium of the Fondren-Jones Science building. Most importantly to Hart, he continues his quest of making math visible and fun, challenging everyday people to aid in the construction of his pieces through community building events. To learn more about George Hart, visit his website or participate with Making Math Visible.

“Embodying Mathematics”

The focus of Margaret Wertheim’s talk was a project started by her and her twin sister Christine. The Crochet Coral Reef is an exhibition that sits at the intersection of science and math, and the twin passions of both of the Wertheim siblings. The project started nearly 20 years ago in response to climate change. The concept had not yet emerged widely within public consciousness at the time, and Wertheim recalled having to explain climate change to many people, a rather novel idea in our current political zeitgeist. The Crochet Coral Reef is exactly what it sounds like on the tin, a coral reef made entirely out of crochet. The math aspect comes from how the crochet is made. Real-life coral naturally forms hyperbolic structures, and hyperbolic geometry is a form of non-euclidean geometry that allows coral to maximize its surface area, which is extremely important for an organism that relies on absorbing nutrients from the surrounding water. Wertheim discussed that while even modern scientists have struggled to create and model examples of hyperbolic geometry, women have been doing it for centuries in the form of crochet. However, the sisters couldn’t do it alone; the crochet coral reef is a project to which thousands of people across the world have contributed. And so “Through an unlikely fusion of mathematics, marine biology, handicraft and collective art practice, the Wertheims and their contributors produce large-scale coralline landscapes both beautiful and blighted. At once figurative, fantastical, worldly, and dispersed, the Crochet Coral Reef offers a beautiful impassioned response to dual calamities devastating marine life: climate change and plastic trash.” 

Empty Bowls

In collaboration with the symposium, Southwestern’s own Studio Arts program created 150 bowls. Each bowl is different in color, shape, size, and artist. Led by Moses Tsai and Ron Geibel, the experience benefitted the Caring Place and Southwestern’s own Pirate Pantry. The Empty Bowls event was a resounding success, with half of the bowls gone in around ten minutes! This fusion of art and community support was powerful to see and the Empty Bowls event will hopefully return for 2027’s Brown Symposium.

“The Mind’s Eye: Cacophony and Silence”

The team of Alex Rosenthal and Jeremiah Dicky descussed their colaborations while working for TedEd making educational animations and games and how their unique outlooks shaped their work. Rosenthal explained the condition he has called aphantasia which is a mental condition where one struggles or is unable to picture anything with their “mind’s eye”, so to be able to actualise his ideas for entertaining educational animations, games, and puzzles he writes the scripts and outlines for talented artists like Dicky to then interpret into something both educational and entertaining for all ages. This process led to Rosenthal coming up with the idea for one of his most recent edutainment games, “The Purring Test” which combines the concepts of scripting questions for AI, riddles, and most importantly, cats. Rosenthal’s story and work inspires others to not hold themselves back from something they are passionate about just because they might feel like something is holding them back, and instead find a different angle to approach that passion with and continue to use that as inspiration moving forward.

“Transforming Climate Solutions: From Big Ideas to Everyday Justice”

Although very visible to most around the world, climate change may also seem like an abstract concept. As a political ecologist and social activist, Doctor Jola Ajibade connected past transformations like abolition, modern innovations like the internet, and what it all translates to in terms of shaping the future of our planet – and who lives on it. Ajibade extrapolated how climate change affects others around the globe, citing approximately 50,000 deaths due to heat stroke in 2024 as an example. She also presented climate change solutions as a site of power and value making, a tool to better the lives of those in certain standings. In example, she points to the rise of “climatopias”, man-made paradises where climate change is protected from. However, instead of protecting those who are “climate precarious”, these cites only offer reclamation for the “climate privileged” – those rich enough to buy a slice of paradise. In order to combat this “climate capitalism”, Ajibade encourages each of us to take the reins and responsibility to save our own world before it is too late.

Crossed Paths and Hyperbolics: Daina Taimina and Victoria Star Varner

In tandem with the symposium, Southwestern’s gallery offered an exhibition in the spirit of abstraction made physical. This exhibition saw the return of Victoria Star Varner’s work, which was appreciated earlier this semester in Victoria Star Varner: A Retrospective. In combination with Daina Taimina’s work, the exhibition offered a unique perspective on the world at large. Unlike Varner, whose work explored themes of intersection, connectedness, and the traces left behind by actions; Taimina focuses on the mathematical. Taimina’s work, done in crochet, explores hyperbolic planes. This plane is extremely hard to capture in the physical form, with crochet being the foremost fashion of doing so. As per Taimina’s artist statement, each piece is filled with “memory threads”, a connection to her late husband David Henderson. Despite their apparent differences, both artist’s work honor the spirit of the symposium, bringing physicality to such abstract concepts.

As a whole, the Brown Symposium inspired students to look for more ways to view issues. Tune in next spring for the next symposium!