Julien Putz is a PhD candidate in the Graduate Group in Science and Mathematics Education (SESAME) at UC Berkeley, with a designated emphasis in Cognitive Science. Working with Prof. Dor Abrahamson in the Embodied Design Research Laboratory, he investigates the perceptual and imaginative processes that are part of diagrammatic reasoning in mathematics. His research draws on embodied and enactive approaches to cognition and combines first-person methods such as micro-phenomenological interviews with third-person measures such as eye-tracking. Focusing on proving and problem solving, he examines how learners engage with diagrams through perceptual and imaginative actions such as foregrounding or imaginatively moving parts of a figure. He also investigates how such actions can lead learners to see a particular example as generic—that is, as standing for a broader class and carrying general mathematical structure.
Before coming to Berkeley, Julien completed a master’s degree in Mathematics at the University of Luxembourg, where he conducted an industrial internship at IEE S.A. on finite-element simulations for metasurface antenna design. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Glasgow, double-majoring in Mathematics and Theatre Studies. His honors thesis explored conceptual and epistemological affinities between mathematics and theatre—particularly the role of narrative, multimodality, and movement in mathematical practices—which sparked his ongoing interest in embodied cognition and the learning sciences.
Specializations and Interests
Mathematics Education, Diagrammatic Reasoning, Embodied Cognition, Micro-phenomenology, Eye-tracking
