Hikaru Dávid Jitsukawa

Hello there! My name is Hikaru Jitsukawa, and I am a current doctoral student studying mathematics at Tufts University. My research interests broadly concern geometric group theory, particularly the geometries of CAT(0) and hyperbolic groups, boundaries of groups, and Coxeter Groups. I am also working on various projects using the history/philosophy of mathematics to search for new and surprising applications and uses of mathematical thought. Over the past several years, I have studied aperiodic tilings of the plane with Dr. Casey Mann at the University of Washington and Schubert varieties with Dr. Elizabeth Milićević at Haverford College. 

My teaching philosophy is rooted in investigating the relationship between quantitative reasoning, the arts, and the humanities. What role does mathematics play in our culture? What do students' orientations toward mathematics say about its practice and perception? What is mathematics even a study of, and what does it justify? I am especially interested in working with undergraduate students new to or returning to mathematics.

In a more informal and slower-paced setting, my cultural studies work involves the relationship between the immediacy of phenomenological experience and one's political life. I work from outside the academy in this area, and I often feel the frustration of lacking time and energy to devote to these ideas. My current questions include: What is the relationship between bell hooks' love ethics and her personal loneliness? Is there a systematic way to tie abstract identity to tangible objects? Why does body dysmorphia impact every character in Howl's Moving Castle?

All views expressed on this page are the author's own and do not reflect those held by Tufts University or its affiliates. 

Last updated: March 2025

Courses

• Summer 2025- Math 0010: Introductory Special Topics - Machine Learning/ Python

  • Tufts University Department of Mathematics

• Summer 2024- Math 0010: Introductory Special Topics - Machine Learning/ Python

  • Designed Course

  • Tufts University Department of Mathematics

Teaching Assistantships

• Fall 2025- Math 0032: Calculus I Practicum (3 Sections)

  • Tufts University Department of Mathematics

• Spring 2025- Math 0032: Calculus I Practicum (3 Sections)

  • Tufts University Department of Mathematics

• Fall 2024- Math 0070: Linear Algebra Practicum (3 sections)

  • Tufts University Department of Mathematics

• Spring 2024- Math 0032: Calculus I Practicum (3 sections)

  • Tufts University Department of Mathematics

• Fall 2023- Math 0032: Calculus I Practicum (3 sections)

  • Tufts University Department of Mathematics

Upcoming Travel:

• TBD

Writing:

• Frankenstein's Creature, Interpellation, and Orientation, In Progress

• The Geometry of the Bruhat Order in Affine S_3, Undergraduate Thesis (Revised 2024, PDF)

• A Markov Partition for the Penrose Wang Shift, with Harper Hults, Casey Mann, Justin Zhang (2023, ArXiv)

Presentations:

• Workshop for Potential Literature: Surrealism and Proceduralism in the History of Mathematics, informal talk at Monday Math Meeting at Tufts University (2025, PDF)

• To Collapse into Nothingness: An Introduction to Mathematical Structuralism, informal talk at Monday Math Meeting at Tufts University (2024, PDF)

• A Geometric Partial Ordering on Affine S_3, presentation at Haverford College (2023, PDF)

• Turning on Frankenstein: Seams, Sutures, and Gendered Embodiment, presentation at Haverford College (2023)

• A Markov Partition for the Penrose Shift, poster presentation at the Joint Mathematics Meetings, presentation at the AMS contributed paper session on Dynamical Systems and Ergodic Theory (2023)

• Symmetries of Shift Spaces and Symbolic Representations, colloquium talk at University of Washington: Bothell (2022, PDF)

Organization:

• President of Tufts Organization for Graduate Students in Mathematics

  • May 2025 - Present

• Organizer of the Tufts Monday Math Meeting Talk Series

  • September 2024- Present

• Secretary of Tufts Organization for Graduate Students in Mathematics

  • May 2024- April 2025

Outreach:

• Mentor for Tufts Directed Reading Program

  • Project: Alain Badiou's Being and Event and Mathematical Philosophy

  • January 2024 - April 2024

Textbook Resources:

Miscellaneous Notes:

• "What Does Blackout Poetry Teach Us About Intersectionality?": A zine-style report on using poetry to do philosophy, engaging directly with the works of Audre Lorde, Jennifer Nash, and Tressie McMillan Cottom. Written with Lara Deuber, Uba Ogidi, and Sophia Vaidya. (PDF)

• "Braid Groups and Knot Theory": An expositional paper on the Artin Braid Group written with Martin Vollmayr-Lee and Tianbo Yang during an undergraduate abstract algebra course. (PDF)

• "An Exploration of the Dimension of the Cantor Set": An expositional paper on the Hausdorff dimension written during an undergraduate real analysis course. (PDF)

I am happy to write letters of recommendation for any students who have taken a class with me or worked with me extensively. I would be especially excited to write recommendations for projects that bridge between mathematics and the humanities. If you believe that I would be a good judge of your skills, then please email me at least 4 weeks before the submission deadline with the following:

1. What appeals to you about this opportunity? Why are you passionate about it, or why do you think you are especially suited for it?

2. What skills would you want me to mention? How did you develop these skills during our class?

3. A CV or Resumé.

4. A link, email address, and deadline for submission.

And remember to write all your recommenders a thank you email or note with updates afterward.

In pursuing justice through the academy, it is important to address that every intellectual pursuit, including mathematics, has a legitimating position in the power structures of its society. As such, I am not willing to write recommendation letters for projects funded by or involving, either directly or indirectly:

• Militaries, intelligence agencies, or organizations in close relation to these.

• Prisons, policing, and private security agencies.

I urge my colleagues in positions of greater stability and authority to do the same and more.

Thank you to Professor Aougab for allowing me to use this framework.

For any further details, scripts, or other materials for the entries below, please feel free to email me.

Sketches and Short Plays:

• Singing in the Rain (2023)

  • Characters: 2. Runtime: 4 Minutes. Genre: Slapstick, Deadpan.

  • Plot: The iconic musical number "Singing in the Rain" is told from the perspective of the technician holding the hose. Audience members are encouraged to bring raincoats or other waterproof gear.

• The Ends of Things (2023)

  • Characters: 4. Runtime: 5 Minutes. Genre: "Mor(t)ality Play"

  • Plot: Orpheus and Euridice discuss metaphor on the walk back from the underworld. How does death change the things we mean to say? 

• Confession (2022)

  • Characters: 7. Runtime: 7 Minutes. Genre: Blue Comedy. 

  • Plot: An actor is forced to quit performing after embezzling the prop budget for a very personal purpose. They attempt to clear their name to the audience.

• The Button (2022)

  • Characters: 2. Runtime: 8 Minutes. Genre: Theater of the Absurd.

  • Plot: Two friends on a road trip are confronted by the frivolous yet looming threat of an explosion. What purpose is there to political violence? Who can enact it?

• Adopt These Terrible Dogs (2022)

  • Characters: 3. Runtime: 4 Minutes. Genre: Dark Comedy. 

  • Plot: A holiday pet adoption advertisement goes awry, as all the remaining dogs have nuanced and challenging behavioral quirks. 

Music:

• mens volleyball, with Harrison Lennertz and Matt Curran (Bandcamp).

Other:

• Altoids Tin Chalk Holder (2024)

  • A 3d print that turns a standard-size Altoids tin into a chalk holder for four pieces of Hagoromo chalk. (Documents)

•  Your Average Life (2023)

  • This Arduino program counts down the number of heartbeats remaining in the user's lifetime given a number of statistical factors.

  • Compatible with the Arduino serial display. 

• Hypothes.is Scraper (2020)

  • This Python script pulls the public hypothes.is annotations from any website and semantically compares them against lists of key phrases to construct a .csv data structure of thematic similarities.