A discussion of Emily Dickinson's use of mathematics, her use of Jeremiah Day's algebra textbook, an illustration of the connection between the vocabulary in one Dickinson poem and Day's textbook, and the work of other Dickinson scholars who explore similar ideas.
What can we do the first day of class to give students a feel for what to expect in the course and generate some enthusiasm for learning and statistics? To investigate this question, a number of prominent statistics educators were recently asked "What do you like to do in your first class of the semester"? Their responses and experiences of the author are summarized in this paper to provide a collection of tips, stories, topics for generating discussion, and general advice for getting a course going in a positive direction.
