Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Optimizing Maternal And Tenure Clocks: A Mathematical Proof, Tara T. Craig

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This essay shares my journey to solving the problem of timing, specifically as it applies to having a child on my journey towards a career as a mathematician in academia. I share some of the challenges I faced during pregnancy and the first few years of motherhood, which coincided with my first few years as an assistant professor of mathematics.

College Dropout To College Professor, Deborah L. Gochenaur, Rose I. Verbos

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Being a college dropout wasn’t something to be proud of; it just happened. Life doesn’t always turn out the way we want or expect. Yet, it is often how we deal with defeat that defines us – figuring out when to lick our wounds and when to come back fighting. It took a few years to redefine my dream, start a family, and seem to move forward, but the ache for more was always in the back of my mind. Could I succeed at something at which I had already failed? Going back to school at a community college at …

Rational Points On Surfaces And In Life, Amanda Knecht

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This essay collects together examples of instances where I should have advocated for myself more as a mother and examples of how I have advocated for my children. Theses stories come from a mathematician who gave birth to two children while on the tenure track in an older department with only one tenured woman.

Beautiful Madness: Math And Motherhood --- Can You Have It All?, Abigail Wacher

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

I am a tenure-track assistant professor, and I have a beautiful three-year old boy and a husband who I love. My life today is within epsilon of the future I imagined while I was in university and contemplating a career in mathematics. Getting here, however, took longer than I thought. Along the way I often felt I was under pressure to choose between my career and having a family. I never made this choice and, although my pregnancy and my son did interfere with my career, I would not have it any other way. This is the story of how …

Don't Ask The Baby To Do Calculus: Thoughts From An Early-Career Math Mama, Caitlin Krul

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

I very recently became a math mama. In my desperate search for patterns and structure in those first few weeks, my husband told me, "She's only three weeks old; we can't expect her to be doing calculus homework." I suppose he was right. I am working towards tenure and finding a new balance between teaching and family, all while trying to not lose sight of who I am. My personal challenges range from the logistics of being a nursing mother in a shared office to feelings of being seen as less adequate in my job if I present myself as …

So, Your Mom Wants To Be A Mathematician, Edie Stevens

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Despite all the stereotypes about them, mothers possess a skill set that makes them outstanding potential mathematicians. Most are organized, detail oriented, driven, determined, effective communicators; they are able to break down any concept or task into its principal components, and they can be logical and persuasive even when addressing the most formidable and unwilling audience. In short, no matter how messy, difficult, or tedious the task at hand, moms excel at getting the job done. This is my affirming story of how I left my engineering career to raise a family and returned to academia to pursue a doctoral …

On Contradiction, Piper Harron

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Parenting, across species, is a clumsy, all-consuming, and often exasperating endeavor. Yet in many parts of the human world, we somehow expect to contain and control this part of ourselves. We idealize the separation of work and family. This seems to be especially true in mathematics where many of us hold space in our minds for the Devoted Genius Mathematician who has no other responsibilities but to their own passions, and no obstacles beyond the difficulties of their own pursuits. The unavoidable fact is that life with children is full of absurdities and contradictions. Unless we're willing to embrace that, …

Motherhood And Teaching: Radical Care, Ksenija Simic-Muller

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This essay is a personal reflection on how I leverage my positioning as a caregiver in my roles of a mathematician, teacher, and mother, to advance a vision for a more just and equitable society. I argue that care at home and in the classroom takes similar forms, and can be liberating instead of oppressive.

From Ecstasy To Agony And Back: Mathematics, Motherhood, And Postpartum Depression, Azadeh Rafizadeh

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

In this essay I address some challenges I had to overcome as a non-tenured mathematician mother married to another mathematician. While some of these challenges, such as lack of sleep, were predictable, many were not. For example, I was not aware that just getting pregnant would be a difficulty. Also, I did not know how paralyzing postpartum depression could be. Looking back on these experiences after a few years, I have a new perspective. I share my experiences, feelings about them, and some of the ways I figured out to overcome the hardships I experienced.

The Multiple Identities Of A Mathematics Professor Mom, Margaret J. Mohr-Schroeder

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

In this essay, i dive into the multiple identities of a Mathematics Professor Mom and how we interchange those identities as we work to achieve harmony (not balance!) in our lives.

Calculating Intersections: The Crossroads Of Mathematics And Literature In The Lives Of Mother And Daughter, Della Dumbaugh, Hannah Fenster

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This article tells the stories of how we, Della (mom, mathematician) and Hannah (daughter, writing instructor and bookseller), arrived in our professional settings through the lens of mother and daughter. For us, the intersections of literature and mathematics inspired many of our pivotal moments.

The Situatedness Of Mathematics In Motherhood And Academia, Jennifer Schenk Sacco, Jill Shahverdian

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The authors, a mathematician and a political scientist, examine mathematics, motherhood, and academia, and argue that feminist epistemology is necessary to explain the intersection. Relying on the principles of feminist epistemology laid out by philosophers Naomi Scheman and Marianne Janack, the authors consider how work, the concept of time, teaching, arts and crafts, and decision-making all reveal the situatedness of knowing and using mathematics.

A Survey Of The Math Blogosphere, Katherine Thompson

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This article provides an overview of different types of mathematical blogs currently available. There are over twenty blogs highlighted, ranging from the technical to the recreational, from those sponsored by national mathematical organizations to those run by individuals--including students.

Discovering And Demonstrating Patterns, Maria Klawe

The STEAM Journal

Harvey Mudd College's President Maria Klawe shares her personal journey in combining a love of mathematics and art.

Special Issue Call For Papers: Mathematics And Motherhood, Pamela E. Harris, Becky Hall, Carrie Diaz Eaton, Emille Davie Lawrence

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The Journal of Humanistic Mathematics is pleased to announce a call for papers for a special issue on Mathematics and Motherhood. Please send your abstract submissions via email to the guest editors by October 1, 2017. Initial submission of complete manuscripts is due January 1, 2018. The issue is currently scheduled to appear in July 2018.

Descartes Comes Out Of The Closet, Nora E. Culik

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

While “Descartes Comes Out of the Closet” is ostensibly about a young woman’s journey to Paris, the descriptive detail borrows language and images from Cartesian coordinate geometry, dualistic philosophy, neuroanatomy (the pineal), and projections of three dimensions onto planes. This mathematical universe is counterpointed in the natural language of the suppressed love story that locates the real in the human. Thus, at the heart of the story is the tension between competing notions of mathematics, i.e., as either an independent realm apart from history or as a culturally produced and historical set of practices. Of course, the central character proves …

Disciple, Jessica K. Sklar

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This is a love poem for mathematics.

They Say She Was Good -- For A Woman: Poetry And Musings, Joanne Growney

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

These pages contain ideas and verses that consider the roles of women in mathematics. Details of the life of Amalie “Emmy” Noether inspired a poem and the poem, in turn, led to the poet’s growth and awareness of her self and her voice.

Inquiry Based Learning From The Learner’S Point Of View: A Teacher Candidate’S Success Story, Caroline Johnson Caswell, Derek J. Labrie

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The goal of this paper is to review current research on Inquiry Based Learning (IBL) and shed some light, from a student's perspective, on the challenges and rewards of this pedagogy. The first part of the article provides an extensive review of the literature on IBL. The second part focuses on one student's experiences in an IBL classroom.

In particular, a graduate secondary mathematics student reflects upon his experiences in a college mathematics class where the instructor implemented an Inquiry Based Learning model. His experience is validated by current research on IBL educational methodology which structures the classroom environment for …

Badiou’S Logics: Math, Metaphor, And (Almost) Everything, Vladimir Tasic

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Mathematics plays a central role in the philosophical system of Alain Badiou. The aim of this essay is to situate this appeal to mathematics in the broader context of his work, including its literary and political elements.

Emergence And Complexity In Music, Zoe Tucker

HMC Senior Theses

How can we apply mathematical notions of complexity and emergence to music, and how can these mathematical ideas then inspire new musical works? Using Steve Reich's Clapping Music as a starting point, we look for emergent patterns in music by considering cases where a piece's complexity is significantly different from the total complexity of each of the individual parts. Definitions of complexity inspired by information theory, data compression, and musical practice are considered. We also consider the number of distinct musical pieces that could be composed in the same manner as Clapping Music. Finally, we present a new musical …

Book Review: A New Index For Predicting Catastrophes: Poems By Madhur Anand, Joanne Growney

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This review explores Madhur Anand’s recent poetry collection from several points of view. One involves consideration of mathematical concepts and imagery in her poems. A second viewpoint takes into consideration Anand’s own field – she is a professor of environmental science with a focus on ecology. A third view considers the poems as art objects – words building pictures that offer to readers both insights and pleasures.

Connections, Mark Huber, Gizem Karaali

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Collaboration And Creativity In Southern Califonia: An Offering, Gizem Karaali, Ami Radunskaya

Pomona Faculty Publications and Research

WiMSoCal (Women in Math in Southern California) is a regional conference in its ninth incarnation. The conference is the result of the efforts of Professor Cymra Haskell (USC) to create a supportive local community for women mathematicians. At our first meeting in 2007, a confluence of Ami’s EDGE regional cluster and Cymra’s WISE group at USC, we socialized, got to know each other and brainstormed about what we, as a group, would like to see happen. It was clear that our younger colleagues wanted to meet as mathematicians, sharing intellectual ideas as well as anecdotes from the trenches.

A Meeting Of Minds: An Alternate Humor For Teaching Mathematics To Non-Stem Majors, Paul H. Grawe

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

John Allen Paulos argued essentially for three forms of humor dear to mathematics: Incongruity, Gotcha, and Word Play. Unfortunately, these three are often combative forms and easily drive non-STEM majors out of mathematics and statistics.

William Dunham in The Mathematical Universe shows how a fine mathematician can use humor to draw non-specialists in. Central to Dunham’s success is his use of Sympathetic Pain humor, which creates softer synthetic Reconciler, Consoler, or Bridgebuilder humor styles.

Counting On R-Fibonacci Numbers, Arthur Benjamin, Curtis Heberle

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

We prove the r-Fibonacci identities of Howard and Cooper using a combinatorial tiling approach.

A Mathematician's Villanelle, Gizem Karaali

Pomona Faculty Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

My Finite Field, Matthew Schroeder

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

A love poem written in the language of mathematics.

Fields In Math And Farming, Susan D'Agostino

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

A young woman’s search for a a contemplative, insightful experience leads her from farming to mathematics.

The Efficacy Of Mathematics Education, Eric Geimer

The STEAM Journal

Evidence supports the notion that mathematics education in the United States is inadequate. There is also evidence that mathematics education deficiencies extend internationally. The worldwide mathematics education deficit appears large enough that improving student performance in this educational problem area could yield great economic benefit. To improve the efficacy of mathematics education, education’s root problems must first be understood. Often supposed educational root problems are considered and contrasted against potential deficiencies of mathematics methodologies and curricula that are based on mainstream educational philosophies. The educational philosophies utilized to form early-grade mathematics methodologies and related curricula are judged to be the …