Cryptology

Cryptology is one of my favorite academic subjects in undergraduate education. This topic has a rich historical context and connects to so many different areas of mathematics. Listed below are a few opportunities related to cryptology. Feel free to email me or drop by office if you are interested in these activities or other aspects of cryptology.

Kryptos: This is an online cryptanalysis competition for undergraduates held annually in April.  Students can work in teams of at most three to solve a number of codebreaking challenges over a four day period. I am the Kryptos mentor and advisor at Furman University. In the beginning of the spring semester, I usually send out emails to generate student interest and organize a workshop to help out students before the competition. For details on the competition, click here. 

Breaking Codes and Winning Wars (Study Away MayX): Dr. Mark Woodard and I co-teach a study away MayX course  focused on historical cryptology, with a strong emphasis on the mathematics behind understanding and breaking the Enigma cipher machine.  For this course, we usually take a group of 18 students to London for this trip where we visited several historical sites and museums, including Bletchley Park, Dover castle and wartime tunnels, the National Cryptology Museum, and the Churchill War Rooms to name a few. 

This course has run in May 2023 and May 2025, and we hope to run it again in May 2027. 

Crypto Educators Symposium & Learning Community: I am currently organizing a learning community for K-12 & college educators interested in cryptology. We have monthly virtual talks on a variety of topics: creative classroom activities involving the Enigma machine, ideas for undergraduate research projects, using software & technology to assist with codebreaking, etc. We also have an asynchronous online discussion forum for members. If you are interested in joining the community, send me an email: christian.millichap@furman.edu.