Barry Brunson

  Professor, Department of Mathematics Faculty Fellow, Women's Studies Program
email
barry.brunson + "at" + wku.edu, math.is.fun + "at" + insightbb.com
web
www.wku.edu/~barry.brunson
voice 270.745.6221 270.745.6477
fax 270.745.3699 270.745.6861
physical

1906 College Heights Blvd #11078
Bowling Green, KY 42101-1078

1906 College Heights Blvd #21066
Bowling Green, KY 42101-1066
 
"Everybody Counts!"
"Feminism is the radical notion that women are people."


Barry's checkered academic past
Barry attended Saint John's College (Annapolis), the University of California at Berkeley, and Indiana University Northwest (Gary), without ever graduating, before moving to Bloomington in 1975. There he finally received the BA, MA, and PhD degrees from Indiana University, finishing in 1982.
Barry's colorful employment history
Mixed in with his off-and-on career as a student, Barry worked, for months or for years, as a baker's helper, clerk, warehouseman, office manager, soldier, steelworker, taxi driver, and welder (among other occupations). He taught at DePauw University for two years before coming to Western Kentucky University in 1983. His mathematical specialty is probability theory, and he still does some research in that area. However, his main professional focus for the last several years has been curriculum reform in mathematics, and more generally, promoting mathematical and scientific literacy.
ATM
Barry was inspired by the amazing potential for deeper learning that Mathematica offers, both to students and to faculty alike. In particular, he was deeply impressed by the pioneering interactive courseware Calculus & Mathematica, written by Bill Davis, Horacio Porta, and Jerry Uhl. Over a period of several years, Barry and Claus Ernst wrote their own interactive courseware, Algebra, Trigonometry, & Mathematica (ATM), which is interactive courseware that helps students learn precalculus by doing mathematics instead of just reading about it. The power and flexibility of Mathematica enables the student to generate many examples from one initial example, and allows for individual investigation until a given concept is fully understood. The student is encouraged to ask "What if...?" and is empowered to find the answer almost immediately.

ATM Online
Starting in the Fall semester of 1998, we occasionally have offered Math 118, College Algebra and Trigonometry, via the internet.
Women's Studies
In addition to spreading the news about the beauty and fun of mathematics, I am privileged to serve as Faculty Fellow for the WKU Women's Studies Program.

Spring 2009 classes

Fall 2008 classes

Summer 2008 classes

Spring 2008 classes

 

Professional Organizations

These organizations are worthy of attention (and not just because I pay dues to them)!


Laudable Links