B.Math (Hons), M.Sc.
Instructor, Mathematics and Statistics
School of STEM
Mathematics & Statistics
Faculty of Arts and Sciences
604.986.1911 ext. 2451
Fir Building, room FR471
llajeune@capilanou.ca
Education
M.Sc., Mathematics, Carleton University, 1996.
B.Math (Honours), Pure Mathematics and Music, University of Waterloo, 1987.
Bio
Lisa Lajeunesse (M.Sc., Carleton University, 1996.) completed a Bachelor of Mathematics with a double major in Pure Mathematics and Music at the University of Waterloo. Afterwards, she worked with Telesat, Canada for several years, as part of the Mission Analysis and Flight Dynamics teams responsible for launch planning and the orbital maintenance of Canada's geostationary communications satellites. During this time, she also taught music privately and pursued creative writing. In 1994, Lajeunesse returned to her formal education studying Mathematics at Carleton University, focusing on a branch of mathematical logic called Model Theory.
Lajeunesse has a passion for learning and teaching applications of mathematics in other disciplines. Since joining the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Capilano University in 1998, she has pursued this passion by teaching and developing curriculum for interdisciplinary courses, including creating courses that explore the connections between mathematics and the visual arts, music and literature. This area is where she focuses most of her research now.
Lajeunesse served as Engineering Convenor for three years and is currently Chair of the Engineering Steering Committee in the School of STEM. Some of her mathematical poems have appeared in the Bridges 2018 Poetry Anthology.
Children naturally find math fun and appealing. Somewhere between childhood and university many lose this joy in math and begin to see it as a set of rules to be memorized and applied. To help students rediscover the wonder and beauty of math, we need to not only introduce them to new avenues to explore but also address gaps in their understanding.
I encourage students to ask the question 'why?', and much of my teaching philosophy is based on the belief that my role is to help students uncover the answer to that question in a way that makes sense to them.
I love guiding students to an improved and deepened conceptual understanding of math and to help them to see how math is relevant to the world around them.
For several years, my primary research interest has been connections between mathematics and the arts. These include the golden ratio, the use of linear perspective in drawing, the use of mathematics in literature and how it might be expanded, and how to formalize various musical theoretical concepts into mathematical language.
I am particularly excited when diverse artistic areas illustrate the same mathematical concept so that math forms a bridge between them. Only with math can we uncover the connections between 20th-century serialism in music and the French novel La Vie: Mode d'Emploi. Or musical polyphony from 15th century Renaissance and the film Memento from the year 2000.
Publications
Lajeunesse, Lisa. Poetry Puzzles. Proceedings of Bridges 2018: Mathematics, Art, Music, Architecture, Education, Culture, Phoenix: Tesselations Publishing, 2018.
Lajeunesse, Lisa. The Golden Ratio: How Close is Close Enough? Proceedings of Bridges 2017: Mathematics, Art, Music, Architecture, Education, Culture, Phoenix: Tesselations Publishing, 2017.
Presentations
2018: Maximally-Even Strings. Sharing Mathematics Conference. Capilano University, North Vancouver, BC, May 17.