Scribner Seminar Program
Course Description
stories covered in chalk
Instructor(s): Greg Malen, Mathematics & Statistics
An exploration of fiction stories that examine deep questions from mathematics and
science in a non-technical setting. We will read, listen to, and examine a series
of short stories and plays which engage with topics drawn from the philosophy of math
and science, and we will reflect on how these abstract ideas impact our daily experience
of life as human beings. The three main themes we will focus on are: measuring infinity,
uncertainty and determinism, and formal structure. All technical topics will be approached
at an informal introductory level. Our semester starts and ends in Jorge Luis Borges'
鈥淭he Library of Babel,鈥� as we journey from one bookshelf to the next searching for
meaning . . . or a way out.
Course Offered: 2026