Workshop "Fictionalization in Math outreach"

From the historical figures met in Doctor Who to the scientific hijinks of the kids in the Magic School Bus, most sciences have had their time in the spotlight in fictionalized works. What about math? How can we do mathematics outreach through fiction? But first… should we? Is a western the best setting to present knot theory? What can romance stories tell us about the axiom of choice? Along the way of discussing such questions, we may also review mathematical models of non-linear stories like gamebooks, and we will try to create new math activities. This workshop is a story you cannot miss, a story in which YOU are the (co)protagonist!         Some first questions: For a given mathematical subject to popularize is it relevant to present it through fiction? If we don’t know if it is relevant, how could we determine this? If it seems relevant, which type of fiction could be appropriate?  Proposed plan of approach :  Reviewing forms of fiction: novel, comic book, radio, theatre, movie, board game… Reviewing genres of fiction: science fiction, comedy, historical, mystery, horror…  Linearity of the plot and influence of the audience: anything between an un-modifiable classical story and a full improve show with audience input.  Non-linear plots and graph theory, with the example of « choose your own adventure » gamebooks.  Create a new outreach activity mixing mathematics and creative writing: present basics of graph theory and non-linear stories, then make the audience create a non-linear story associated to a given graph.