Readings
Readings
A set of readings related to the themes we'll be discussing in the seminar. Of course this is not exhaustive list on these subjects, just starting points for interaction and discussion. (This list is tentative and may be adjusted.)
What is Mathematics?
Eugenia Cheng, How to Bake Pi, Chapter 1 (What is Math?).
Paul Lockhart, A Mathematician’s Lament (esp. pages 1-5).
Keith Devlin, How technology has changed what it means to think mathematically (esp. pages 60-63).
Nalini Joshi, TV Interview on the Weekly (esp. 4:25-5:00)
Günter Ziegler and Andreas Loos, What Is Mathematics? And why we should ask…
Francis Su, Mathematics for human flourishing.
Cultures of Research in Mathematics
Terence Tao, Does one have to be a genius to do maths?
Maryam Mirzakhani Interview, from the Clay Mathematics Institute.
Timothy Gowers, The Two Cultures of Mathematics (esp. pages 1-4 and 15-16).
William Thurston, On Proof and Progress in Mathematics (esp. page 1 and pages 11 onwards).
Fan Chung, Advice for Graduate Students.
Ellen Eischen, Moving Ahead in Your Research.
Our Cultural Understanding of Mathematics
Judith Grabiner, Why should historical truth matter to mathematicians?
Alan Bishop, Western Mathematics: the secret weapon of cultural imperialism.
Hongzhang Xu and Rowena Ball, Is the study of Indigenous mathematics ill-directed or beneficial?
John Harris, Australian Aboriginal and Islander Mathematics.
Sara Hottinger, Inventing the Mathematician: Gender, Race, and Our Cultural Understanding of Mathematics, Introduction, pp.1-13.
Becoming Inclusive Mathematics Educators
Cheryl Praeger and Lesley Ward, Women Working in Mathematics in Australian Universities and the Women in Mathematics Special Interest Group. PDF here (first article).
Interview with Ben Burton on The Neumann Talk, especially minutes 36:00-42:00 on improving gender representation in math competitions.
Alice Silverberg, He reminds me of myself at that age.
Rachel Bernstein, Belief that some fields require ‘brilliance’ may keep women out. Also skim the associated research article (especially the diagrams).
In the American Mathematical Society’s report Towards a Fully Inclusive Mathematics Profession, read the Preface (story of William Claytor) and Chapter 5 (Lack of Professional Respect).
Robin Wilson, “A View of Mathematics from Behind the Veil”, pp. 43-46 in: Living Proof: Stories of Resilience Along the Mathematical Journey.
Emille Davie Lawrence, “A Dream Almost Deferred”, pp. 104-105 in: Living Proof: Stories of Resilience Along the Mathematical Journey.
Impact on Teaching and Communicating Mathematics
Teaching Maths
Darryl Yong, A Professor Goes to High School to Learn about Teaching Math.
William F. Tate, Race, Retrenchment, and the Reform of School Mathematics.
Amie Albrecht, The Shape of our Mathematical Beliefs and Teaching through Listening.
Art Duval, Kindness in the Mathematics Classroom.
Jessica Sidman, Thoughts on Helping Students to Feel Included.
Communicating Maths to the Public:
Video: Eugenia Cheng on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Video: Jordan Ellenberg, Tik-Tok video: “Counting Holes in a Straw”.
Video: Tai-Danae Bradley, The Brouwer Fixed Point Theorem on PBS’ Infinite Series.
Communicating mathematics through art: Browse artwork that accompany Quanta Magazine’s articles on mathematics.
Jordan Ellenberg, Outward-Facing Mathematics: A Pitch.
Steven Strogatz, Writing about Mathematics for the Perplexed and Traumatized.
Kira Hamman and Francis Su, Advice on Writing for Newspapers (workshop notes) and associated article.