#ethnomathematics

[noosphe-re]

Oksapmin 27-body part count system https://culturecognition.com/new-page-3 Geoffrey Saxe

#Oksapmin #math #counting #mathematics #anthropology #culture #Papua New Guinea #Geoffrey Saxe #ethnomathematics

[clouds-of-wings]

POV: It’s 4am and you’ve been stuck in an airport with Tom Scott for the last 16 hours. (He keeps looking at something above your head because he’s sleep-deprived and hallucinates a camera there.)

#video #ethnomathematics #tom scott

[arcticdementor]

An Oregon Department of Education newsletter from February promoted an online course designed to “dismantle” instances of “white supremacy culture in the mathematics classroom.”  One example of “white supremacy” highlighted by the course was “the concept of mathematics being purely objective,” an idea which the resource stated is “is unequivocally false."

The program, known as “A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction,” describes itself as “an integrated approach to mathematics that centers Black, Latinx, and Multilingual students” that provides “opportunities for ongoing self-reflection as they seek to develop an anti-racist math practice.”

The "feedback advisors" for a portion of the program include William Zahner, who is an associate professor at San Diego State University; Melissa Navarro Martell, who is an assistant professor at San Diego State University, and Elvira Armas, who is the Director of Programs and Partnerships for the Center for Equity for English Learners at Loyola Marymount University in California. “White supremacy culture infiltrates math classrooms in everyday teacher actions,” the guide states. “Coupled with the beliefs that underlie these actions, they perpetuate educational harm on Black, Latinx, and multilingual students, denying them full access to the world of mathematics.” The newsletter pitched the program to educators “looking for a deeper dive into equity work,” offering to teach “key tools for engagement, develop strategies to improve equitable outcomes for Black, Latinx, and multilingual students, and join communities of practice.”

The Oregon Department of Communications Director of Communications, Marc Siegel, told Campus Reform that math instruction should be built on an "equitable foundation."

“Building math instruction on an equitable foundation can better ensure all our students have a pathway to success in math,” Siegel said. Examples of “white supremacy culture” cited by the document include a focus on "getting the ‘right’ answer" and requiring students to show their work. Glenn Ricketts, Public Affairs Director for the National Association of Scholars, told Campus Reform that the course illustrates that “no aspect of the educational process at any level is off limits for the social justice indoctrination.” "Mathematics was once considered immune: after all, doesn't 2 + 2 = 4?” Ricketts said. “But as I have read recently, the problem that math and arithmetic insist on correct answers is actually a hidden form of 'white supremacy,' as everything else is as well." The authors of the program state that “The concept of mathematics being purely objective is unequivocally false, and teaching it is even much less so. Upholding the idea that there are always right and wrong answers perpetuate objectivity as well as fear of open conflict.” The materials also instruct teachers to “Choose problems that have complex, competing, or multiple answers” so that students can come up with “at least two answers” in order to “challenge standardized test questions…”

…

The course challenges teachers to “center ethnomathematics,” which includes recognizing how communities of color engage in mathematics and exposing students to “examples of people who have used math as resistance.”

…

According to the project glossary, the authors cite critical race theorists like Ibram Kendi and Robin DiAngelo for definitions of terms like “Antiracist” and “Whiteness.” Throughout the document, teachers are encouraged to incorporate “antiracist” math education into their classrooms.

[@mitigatedchaos]

#wyatt eichholz #campus reform #oregon #public schooling #math #crt #ethnomathematics

[deuceofgears]

ahahahaha

Good: completed/uploaded Ninefox Gambit comic #0 p. 3 ('ware content notes generally, it's functionally a Read At Your Own Risk experience; age-locked to 18+ for adult themes; I will probably stop noting page-by-page updates here, as opposed to when I have a 22-page issue done, on the grounds that trickle content is boring).

Good: completed to-do checklist for Ninefox animated MV trailer thing. I adore the Things macOS/iOS to-do app, despite an app name designed to be unsearchable; it's the only to-do app that has really worked for me, although most of my tracking is done in a Hobonichi Techo planner.

Good: you know, just doing art/comics/animation full-time would be a very satisfying life...

Reality check: ...if I were independently wealthy. Guess I still have to write books for a living lol. (Yes. Some of us write for the money. It's shocking, I know, but guess who has a mortage and a kid in college and medical bills?)

Hilarious: saw a 1-star review on an ethnomathematics text (I haven't read the text itself; it's a specialty academic discipline so the texts are stupid expensive) because "math is objective, therefore it has no cultural component." Me: Buddy, tell me without telling me that you have never studied the history of mathematics and never popcorn.gif at a math flamewar slap-fight and possibly have never spoken to more than one working mathematician at a time lolololol. I mean, mathematical constructivism vs. platonism vs. formalism alone.

Bad: my sleep is so fucked. So incredibly fucked. ;_;

#ninefox gambit comic #machineries of empire

[sub-at-omicsteminist]

Nkechi Agwu

Nkechi Madonna Adeleine Agwu is a mathematics teacher, tenured faculty at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, part of the City University of New York, and was a director of the college's Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Scholarship. In 2009.  Agwu served a term as New York City branch president of the American Association of University Women, with an agenda of encouraging girls and women in STEM fields and of improving health in minority communities. In 2014 she returned to Nigeria on a visit sponsored by a Carnegie Africa Diaspora Fellowship. Agwu's interest in ethnomathematics stemmed from her development of a discrete mathematics course that would cover the college's requirement that students take a writing-intensive course. Her work in this area includes using storytelling to allow mathematics students to relate better to the material, and examining the mathematical structure of Ndebele dolls, African textiles, and the game of Mancala.

Ethnomathematics

Discrete mathematics

Ndebele dolls

Mancala

#science #stem #maths #mathematics #stemblr #steminist #women in stem #sub-at-omicsteminist

[khytal]

if there’s one thing I learned from my ethnomathematics class it’s that 2 + 2 = 11 sometimes

#khytal.ks #¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[nutongzhi]

tagged by @tallnoser hie

last song: coochie by shygirl

last show: mushishi is the real answer but more recently technically i watched an ep of cql with my friend recently for old times sake

currently watching: not in a show era rn

currently reading: left hand of darkness for novels lanxi zhen for manhua/comics and ethnomathematics by marcia ascher for fun

current obsession: might be cringe but currently in a history of math rabbit hole or else kirby triple star deluxe for 3ds

if you want to do this feel free to say i tagged you <3

[theclimateconversations]

Science and activism can and should rely on each other

I identify as both a scientist and an activist. The creation of The Climate Conversations  stems from a gap in the climate world, in which key scientific discussions never really leave the academy, and in turn the climate science space is not made accessible to activists. In sharing news, scientific breakthroughs (the good and the bad), adaptation and mitigation successes, and general climate knowledge, this community page strives to facilitate and support the conversation between scientists, activists, and anyone else who has an interest in our changing climate. Activists should utilize the climate data available in order to further their work; science can provide an even stronger foundation for justifying the climate fight and for combating misinformation. In order for this to occur, science should be made easily available to those outside the scientific community. Scientists should also listen to and keep up with activists as they develop their research, implement their methodologies, and share their results; without considering the social justice aspects and implications of their work, the data can only go so far in aiding communities impacted by climate change. As building solidarity between various social justice movements is a recognizable way to make them stronger, creating an interdisciplinary connection that transcends categorization (ie, within or outside academia) can also serve to mend theory with practice, bringing scientific studies into the realm of real life.  An additional nuance that is important to take into account is the difference between the uses of Western science and traditional knowledge. The scientific method follows Western ideals, and Indigenous knowledge ends up forgotten and ignored. Western science can take a page from climate activist’s books by acknowledging and uplifting these traditional beliefs, wisdom, and ideas. Incorporating Indigenous perspectives when engaging with science and activism can provide richer and more nuanced outcomes and insights for the benefit of our planet, our environment, and our communities.

To close up these thoughts is an excerpt from Sherri Mitchell - Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset’s essay Indigenous Prophecy and Mother Earth featured in All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis:

“Ironically, the Indigenous ways of knowing and being that European colonists saw as primitive and uncivilized are now being actively sought out to save our environment and humankind from the brink of extinction. Indigenous knowledge is based on millennia-long study of the complex relationships that exist among all systems within creation. It encompasses a broad array of scientific disciplines: ethnobotany, climatology, ecology, biology, archaeology, psychology, sociology, ethnomathematics, and religion. [...] Unfortunately, a great deal of critical Indigenous knowledge has remained outside the carefully ordered categorization of Western thought, making its holistic concepts difficult to comprehend for those who have been trained to see the world in fractured pieces. It is this fractured view that has been central to the fracturing of our societies and environment.”

#applications #applications in climate and society #science #activism #scienceandenvironment #climate activism #climate action #science and activism #traditional knowledge #indigenous knowledge #climate science #climate change #climate crisis #scientific method

[streamingfanatic1963]

Gloria Ford Gilmer Becomes First Black Woman Mathematician to Have Research Papers Included In Library of Congress’ Manuscript Division

[pieratt]

Part of the Dresden Codex, one of the few remaining artefacts of ancient Mayan civilisation. This portion of the Codex is almost entirely filled with Mayan numerals. https://www.science.org.au/curious/space-time/ethnomathematics

[noosphe-re]

In mathematics education, ethnomathematics is the study of the relationship between mathematics and culture. Often associated with "cultures without written expression", it may also be defined as "the mathematics which is practised among identifiable cultural groups". It refers to a broad cluster of ideas ranging from distinct numerical and mathematical systems to multicultural mathematics education. The goal of ethnomathematics is to contribute both to the understanding of culture and the understanding of mathematics, and mainly to lead to an appreciation of the connections between the two.

Wikipedia

#quote #math #mathematics #Ubiratan D'Ambrosio #culture #ethnomathematics #anthropology

[thousandmaths]

Day 39: Talk with Vic VI

This is the last Talk with Vic post that I will be making on the blog! One of the reasons that I’ve been working so intently recently is not just because it’s exciting to finally have an advisor, but also because I needed to cram as much in before he goes to Berkeley for the semester. Of course we won’t completely lose contact during that time, but the next time we meet will be at the end of September. And that should be after the last post goes up on OTAM, assuming that everything goes according to plan :)

The citation for today’s post is “Notes on a Conjecture of Molchanov”. I would link it, except that it’s actually a pre-preprint, not even on the arXiv yet, and he explicitly asked me not to circulate it, so :3

------

Vic

This meeting kind of went all over the place. We actually didn’t talk much about the new idea I’d had yesterday. I mean, I got to say my piece, and he basically said “yeah you should probably keep thinking about that” and we moved on.

One thing Vic reminded me of (which I felt very stupid for not thinking of myself) is that $\binom n2$ is $1+2+3+\cdots + (n-1)$, and so if we wanted to find a sequence of “local moves” that take us between the two extreme bracelets, the natural thing to do is to try to break it into one bead moving once, another moving twice, and so on. 

Of course, the idea of local moves had come up before— that’s essentially asking for the covering relations in the poset structure (which, again, we don’t actually know exists). But the numeric idea for identifying a potential “main stem” was something that I should have come up with on my own. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so hard on myself, though: we tried two very natural ideas, and both of them failed spectacularly.

During that discussion, Vic talked to me about a nifty, if somewhat unrelated, idea: an explicit construction for a symmetric chain decomposition of the Boolean lattice (I may write about it at some point, since it is quite pretty and not too hard to explain). 

The ‘somewhat’ could maybe use some clarification: the ultimate endgame of this branch of project would be to find the poset structure on the necklaces, and then to produce an explicit symmetric chain decomposition for it. But this is a very ambitious goal: the Boolean lattice is not the only poset for which we know a symmetric chain decomposition, but it’s close. In particular, the existence of a symmetric chain decomposition for a poset implies that it is strongly Sperner, and proving even much weaker Spernerity properties are notoriously difficult problems in combinatorics.

But one of the reasons that I chose Vic in the first place is because I knew he would always push me to be...

Aiming Higher

We also talked about some other possible branches. In particular, he wanted to talk about a generalization of the (MacMahon) Catalan polynomials called the Fuss-Catalan polynomials:

$$ \frac{1}{[mn+1]_q} \begin{bmatrix} (m+1)n \\\ n\end{bmatrix}_q . $$

[ Take $m=1$ to recover the Catalans. ]

If this strikes you as a strange generalization of the Catalan polynomials, you are not alone, but the Kirkman polynomials have a remarkable pedigree as well. In particular, one (very ahistorical :P) way to understand the Catalan polynomials is as the Frobenius characters of the rational Cherednik algebra representation $M_{1,\frac{n+1}{n}}$. The Fuss-Catalan polynomials are the Frobenius characters of $M_{1,\frac{mn+1}{n}}$. These are also known to have some combinatorial interpretation, so it’s not algebra all the way down, but we didn’t discuss this side much.

(It’s not clear to me whether Vic actually prefers to think of things in terms of rational Cherednik algebra modules but this isn’t the first time he’s mentioned the connection.)

The Armstrong-Reiner-Rhodes paper lives on a different branch, which concerns the so-called Kirkman polynomials:

$$ \frac{q^{r(r+1)/2}}{[n+1]_q} \begin{bmatrix} n-1\\\ r\end{bmatrix}_q \begin{bmatrix} 2n+r\\\ n\end{bmatrix}_q. $$

[ Take $r=0$ to recover the Catalans. ]

The Kirkman polynomials have independent interest (they count “partial triangulations”, in particular), but one particularly exciting bit is that they extend well into other Weyl groups— and possibly to Coxeter groups more generally. The ARR paper, in fact, deals with the Kirkman polynomials (and their corresponding “parking functions”) at this level of generality.

These two branches actually meet up again, where they create the “Fuss-Kirkman polynomials” (this is not standard terminology), which is what the pre-preprint paper is about :)

We finished up the meeting with doing some Mathematica computations, trying to find some of the “even Fuss-Catalan numbers” and the “even Kirkman numbers” on the OEIS. 

We actually found one match: the even Kirkmans at $r=1$ are, it seems, the number of winning positions for Player 1 in a Maori game called mu torere, according to the 1987 analysis of Marcia Ascher. (link goes to @jstor)

#math #maths #mathematics #mathema #algebra #combinatorics #algebraic combinatorics #polynomials #everywhere #ethnomathematics #maybe? #can i get some of that sweet sweet interdisciplinary funding somehow? #is the real question #advised reading #2h #0p

[thekindacademic]

This afternoon's work....who would ever guess that I would look at math?! -the arcegyptologist-

#workspace #ethnomathematics #studyblr

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Ewan Somerville

Published: Apr 9, 2022

The mathematics curriculum at a leading university is being “decolonised”, with professors urged to write biographies of theorists, question if they are mostly white or male, and consider the cultural origins of numbers.

Durham University’s decolonisation campaign has swept up the department of mathematical sciences, where all staff are being urged to make the subject “more inclusive” and ensure “maths can be used to aid attempts to secure equality”.

Its new guide for academics says that “decolonising the mathematical curriculum means considering the cultural origins of the mathematical concepts, focusses, and notation we most commonly use”.

Scholars at the Russell Group university, ranked seventh in the UK for maths, have been urged to reconsider how “the power of 10, represented by the word ‘billion’, differs from country to country” and how Brahmagupta, the famed Indian mathematician, assigned a different meaning to the value of zero.

They are told that “the question of whether we have allowed Western mathematicians to dominate in our discipline is no less relevant than whether we have allowed western authors to dominate the field of literature”.

“It may even be more important, if only because mathematics is rather more central to the advancement of science than is literature,” the decolonising guide says. Staff are urged to consider giving short biographies of the mathematicians whose work they present in their modules and are encouraged to question themselves if they choose predominantly “white and/or male” figures.

If the mathematicians are “almost entirely (or even completely) white and/or male, ask yourself why this is,” the guide states.

‘Ditch the Titanic, use Maori jurists instead’

And when using real-world examples to illustrate mathematical puzzles, staff are encouraged to “consider whether you can present the context outside of a Western frame of reference”.

Giving an example for statistics modules, the guide says that Simpson’s paradox is often illustrated using survivors of the Titanic and enrolments in an American university, but an alternative that “decentres Europe” involves “the under-representation of Maori in New Zealand jury pools”.

On Friday, scholars questioned whether it was appropriate for the objective discipline of maths to be conflated with subjective approaches to the past.

Prof Doug Stokes, a social sciences expert at Exeter University, told The Telegraph: “The idea behind decolonising maths is that because everyone should be regarded as equal, the status of their beliefs must also be equal.

“This judgmental relativism is an inversion of science that is based on what is real rather than making everybody feel included. Science and reason are what has led humanity out of the darkness and we jettison their precious light at our peril.”

Durham’s new guide points scholars to “ethnomathematics”, a new discipline emerging on campuses of tying maths to culture, saying “mathematics and culture are not always disentangled”.

Examples given include the “American version won out” of 10^9, for power of ten represented by a billion, which was different to the British 10^12.

Highlighting the contributions of Indian mathematicians, the manual concludes that “it might then be inaccurate to suggest mathematics is a universal language” and scholars should ensure the discipline “genuinely is global, frankly assessing the discipline’s failures - past and present - to work toward that aim”.

Top historians have branded decolonising as “anti-intellectual”.

Last month, the Conservative Party chairman said in a speech on cancel culture that a West “confident in its values” would not be “obsessing over pronouns or indeed seeking to decolonise mathematics”.

Like most British universities, many departments at Durham have established decolonising panels. Durham University Business School has said that by 2022/23, no student will be able to complete a degree there “without significant exposure” to decolonisation issues.

A Durham University spokesman said: “Mathematical sciences at Durham are a rigorous and comprehensive discipline.

“The maths curriculum our students learn remains the same, but we also encourage students to be more aware of the global and diverse origins of the subject, and the range of cultural settings that have shaped it. Two plus two will always equal four.”

In December 2021, Durham was embroiled in a row over free speech following a student walk-out during an address by Rod Liddle, an associate editor of The Spectator, who students accused of making “transphobic, sexist, racist and classist remarks”.

The incident led to Professor Tim Luckhurst, founding Principal of the university's South College, calling students “pathetic”.

Prof Luckhurst later apologised for the remark.

“My anger reflected my sincere commitment to freedom of speech,” he wrote in an email to students. “However, I was wrong to describe the students' action as pathetic and I apologise unreservedly for doing so."

==

Bridges, planes, satellites and medicines don't give a shit about the skin color of those doing the math on which they sit.

This intellectual homeopathy will unmake us. (Note: this is a feature, not a bug.)

#Durham University #decolonize math #mathematics #math #woke math #woke activism #cult of woke #wokeism #wokeness as religion #woke #decolonize #decolonialism #antiracism as religion #antiracism #religion is a mental illness

[astranemus]

Drawing of a musk ox hunt, from Ascher, Marcia, (1991): Ethnomathematics

[roxyandelsewhere]

“Ethnomathematics is the field that studies the multifaceted relationships and connections between mathematical ideas and other cultural elements, like language, art, crafts, construction, education. [...] It is the field that studies the mathematical knowledge of the so-called 'indigenous' peoples. Ethnomathematics is also the field that studies the know-how and mathematical knowledge gathered in practical activities, by street salespeople, by money exchangers, by basket makers, by painters, by seamstresses, by sportsmen, by cooks...

Ethnomathematics shows that mathematical ideas exist in every human culture, in the experiences of all peoples, of all social and cultural groups, of both men and women. [...] In similar circumstances, similar ideas could have been discovered and/or used, like how Aguaruni and Ticuna basket makers in the Peruvian Amazon make fishing baskets with hexagonal holes, as do the Makonde and Makhuwa basket makers in Northwestern Mozambique. [...] 

Ethnomathematics and mathematics history show how much of what is taught in primary and secondary schools originates from Asian and African cultures, with some similarities to indigenous cultures of the so-called Americas. They show that not all things originate from the so-called West. They show there's no such thing as Western mathematics. There is rather a universal mathematics, heritage of all humanity. Every people, of all time, may contribute to this universal mathematics. Every people has the right to learn and enjoy this accrued knowledge, and to contribute to its enrichment. Here lies an ethical and moral dimension of ethnomathematical reflection.”

- “Geometry and basket making of the Bora in the Peruvian Amazon”, by Paulus Gerdes (Mozambican mathematician)

#hello this is something that probably won't interest anyone who isn't reading this book but i really liked this part. felt important #i'd share the book bc it's a free ebook but it's in portuguese :/ #but anyways. yeah. i should be working on my thesis but it's a good read #mine #books #also the translation and bolding are mine. this could have been a shorter post to get the same point but i couldn't decide what to cut