MathPath is a mathematics enrichment summer program for students ages 11–14 (middle school age in the US). It is four weeks long, and moves to a different location each year. MathPath is visited by mathematicians such as John H. Conway and Francis Su. It was probably the original, and is still one of the few, international residential high-end summer camps exclusively for mathematics and exclusively for students of middle school age.

History

MathPath was founded in 2002 by George Rubin Thomas, who had previously founded

Mathcamp Canada/USA Mathcamp is a five-week academic summer program for middle and high school students in mathematics. Mathcamp was founded in 1993 by Dr. George Thomas, who believed that students interested in mathematics frequently lacked the resources ...

for high school students and has since founded Epsiloncamp for children age 7–11 (in 2011, originally aged 8-11) and Delta Camp for children 6 and 7 (in 2014 and 2015, now merged with Epsilon Camp). His goal was to inspire and advance the most mathematically gifted middle school age students, through a summer camp.

Subjects

At MathPath, students learn about many math topics that are rarely taught in American schools, or taught in much depth, such as non-Euclidean geometry, advanced Euclidean geometry, number theory, combinatorics, induction, spherical trigonometry, mathematical origami, and the mathematics of card shuffling. They also learn some history of math and work on mathematical writing. Topics vary somewhat each year, depending on instructor interest. As well, students have the opportunity to prepare for contests such as

MATHCOUNTS Mathcounts, stylized as MATHCOUNTS, is a nationwide middle school mathematics competition held in various places in the United States. Its current lead sponsors are Raytheon Technologies and the U.S. Department of Defense STEM. Topics covered ...

, AMC, or

AIME Aime (; frp, Éma) is a former commune in the Savoie '' département'' in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Aime-la-Plagne.John Horton Conway John Horton Conway (26 December 1937 – 11 April 2020) was an English mathematician active in the theory of finite groups, knot theory, number theory, combinatorial game theory and coding theory. He also made contributions to many branc ...

, Sam Vandervelde, and Glen Van Brummelen. Visiting staff are participants for one year or occasional years. Usually they attend for one week, or for a day or two to give a few lectures. Often they are faculty at the host institution or nearby institutions. Notable visiting mathematicians have included Gene Abrams and Robin Hartshorne.

Admissions

MathPath is selective. The primary criterion for admission is the applicant's work on the yearly Qualifying Test, though academic and nonacademic references are also required.

Locations

* 2002 – Black Hills State University, Spearfish, SD * 2003 – Black Hills State University, Spearfish, SD * 2004 –

Roger Williams University Roger Williams University (RWU) is a private university in Bristol, Rhode Island. Founded in 1956, it was named for theologian and Rhode Island cofounder Roger Williams. The school enrolls over 5,000 students and employs over 480 academic sta ...

, Bristol, RI * 2005 –

Colorado College Colorado College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approxi ...

, Colorado Springs, CO * 2006 –

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Fran ...

, Santa Cruz, CA * 2007 –

, Colorado Springs, CO * 2008 – The

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...

at Burlington * 2009 –

, Colorado Springs, CO * 2010 –

Macalester College Macalester College () is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 2,174 students in the fall of 2018 from 50 U.S. states, four U.S t ...

, St. Paul, MN * 2011 –

, Colorado Springs, CO * 2012 –

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United State ...

, South Hadley, MA * 2013 –

, St. Paul, MN * 2014 –

, South Hadley, MA * 2015 -

Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocate ...

, Portland, OR * 2016 -

, St. Paul, MN * 2017 -

, South Hadley, MA *2018 -

, Portland, OR *2019 -

Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale, Michigan. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on approximately west of Grand Rapids. The universi ...

, Allendale, MI * 2020 and 2021 - Held online due to coronavirus concerns.

References

* *

External links

Epsilon Camp website

MathPath website

Mathcamp USA website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathpath Mathematics summer camps Summer camps in the United States