Thanks to Project NExT, I have the opportunity to participate in organizing a panel session at the next JMM. The exact date and time are TBA. The topic will be Mathematics and Social Justice. If you have any suggestions about this topic—favorite links, articles, or teachers—please leave a comment!
The idea came from an excellent talk by Professor David Kung. He presented the topic in two separate components:
- There are opportunities to improve justice within mathematics education itself. For instance, there are large performance and retention gaps depending on gender, ethnicity, and so on.
- Social justice causes make good topics for a (possibly terminal) math class. For instance, elementary statistics are used in environmental science and every other social science. Math is also important in understanding politics and making voting choices.
We hope to organize our panel to focus on both of these components.
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I seem to remember that Andy Miller, at Belmont University, was working a few years ago on a liberal arts math course with a math/social justice theme. He might be worth talking to.
Thank you Wesley!
You will have to contact/talk with Eric Gustein (Illinoid Univ), he has done alot of work on Social Justice Mathematics.
If you’re interested in social justice in mathematics education, I have a few suggestions for you:
Dr. Lesa Clarkson at the University of Minnesota teaches a graduate-level class called Mathematics for Diverse Learners. In this class, she does a section on teaching mathematics from a social justice perspective. I sat in on this lecture and she talked about a project kickstarted by a teacher in Minneapolis. The project focused on teaching math from a social justice perspective.
Also, Reading and Writing the World with Mathematics is a book by Eric Gutstein (mentioned above, I just realized) that focuses on integrating social justice into mathematics curriculum. I’ve read a few chapters of it and it’s very good!
If and when this panel takes place, I would love to know where/when it is so I can be there!
It totally forgot to comment — the Algebra Project! http://www.algebra.org/ very important but not very connected to the research community. At the beginning of the year, Bob Moses gave a talk at Michigan. It was excruciating how people talked ‘past each other’…
Thank you all for your responses. We have already selected our panel for January (I’ll announce that shortly). Still, I am keeping these recommendations in mind and I’ll try to contact them at this and future meetings. Thanks again! And keep ‘em coming.