Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Exploring The Louisiana Purchase And Its Borderlands: The Lewis And Clark, Hunter And Dunbar, Zebulon Pike, And Freeman And Custis Expeditions In Perspective [Part 1], Jay H. Buckley

Faculty Publications

When Americans contemplate the exploration of the Louisiana Purchase, the names Meriwether Lewis and William Clark quickly come to mind. Their historic journey was well conceived, well executed, and well documented. It was one of the first and longest U.S. government-backed explorations of the American West. The name Zebulon Pike, for some, conjures up notions of a lost explorer who was arrested by the Spanish as an alleged American spy. Fewer still have heard of the names William Dunbar, George Hunter, Thomas Freeman, and Peter Custis. Even those who have heard of these men may be hard-pressed to identify any …

The International Conference On Creative Mathematical Sciences Communication: Online Event (Cmsc'20) And Cmsc'21, Frances Rosamond

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

You are warmly invited to register now for the 5th International Conference on Creative Mathematical Sciences Communication (CMSC’21) which will be held at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, 2–6 July, 2021.

The International Conference on Creative Mathematical Sciences Communication (CMSC) is a unique gathering of computer scientists and mathematicians, teachers, musicians, dancers, dramatists, game designers, educators and communicators of all sorts.

Due to the pandemic, the in-person event scheduled for 2020 has been post- poned and a short CMSC Online Event was organized as a “teaser” or trailer in order to feel the spirit of the full 5th CMSC …

Numberlines: The Evil Triplets, Egan J. Chernoff, Nat Banting, Jay Wilson

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The purpose of this article is to further the recent introduction of numberlines. Number lines, still, yes, are a pictorial abstraction of the real numbers; numberlines, however, are hockey line nicknames based on jersey numbers. A discussion of numberlines, the recent playoff woes of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the binary expansions of the jersey numbers worn by “The Triplets” (who play for The Bolts) culminates with a new nickname more befitting such a transcendent trio.

How To Measure A Coastline, Nora E. Culik

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The infinite shoreline of Lake Superior is embedded in the mathematical imagination, the memory of its stony beaches, and in the unifying consciousness that holds them all, just as the lake itself lies cradled in the land. The narrator of these paradoxes finds the lake, its border, and the calculi strewn along its shore a place a space between worlds where we rediscover that we can’t measure what we can’t locate, and can’t locate what we can’t measure, even the versions of ourselves.

Changes And Deltas, Jim Wolper

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Lecturing about Mathematics is like playing Jazz.

Hexagons, Barbara Quick

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Dear Arithmetic, Mary Soon Lee

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

A short poem anthropomorphizing Arithmetic.

Four Seasons (Haikus), Stephen Luecking

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Natural By Design, Craig Steele

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

I’m a professor in the Department of Biology and Health Sciences at Edinboro University, in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, a small, comprehensive liberal arts institution within the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. My major teaching duties involve environmental biology, zoology, and ichthyology. I emphasize to my students how mathematics underlies the natural world of plants and animals, pointing out to them how many of “our” most amazing engineering and constructional achievements are copied from nature (from geodesic domes to the fusiform bows of modern commercial ships), as well as how plant and animal physiology and animal behavior (of individuals and of …

Mental Logic: Two Poems, Ashley Delvento

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

My submission is comprised of two poems that aim to intertwine mathematical themes with that of creative struggle, a working title for this pairing being “Mental Logic”. The first poem, ‘-ematics’ is a literary work created in the midst of mathematical problem solving. Being an avid writer and a mathematics enthusiast, the theme of this poem struck me while completing the University of Rochester Mathematics Olympiad. There seems to be a belief that literary creativity and mathematics cannot compliment one another, but throughout solving a probability problem on this Olympiad proved to be the ultimate moment of inspiration. This poem …

The Human Face Of Mathematics: Reuben Hersh (1927-2020) In Memoriam, Elena Anne Corie Marchisotto

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Reuben Hersh (1927-2020) celebrated mathematics as a human endeavor, historically evolved and intelligible only in a social context. It is therefore appropriate to remember him in the Journal of Humanistic Mathematics. There have been many tributes to Reuben, which commemorate his life and impressive mathematical and philosophical achievements. This memoriam to Reuben instead focuses on showing how his humanistic philosophy was so indicative of the person he was.

“All Of These Political Questions”: Anticommunism, Racism, And The Origin Of The Notices Of The American Mathematical Society, Michael J. Barany

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

A recent controversy involving the Notices of the American Mathematical Society and questions of politics, racism, and the appropriate role of a professional mathematical organization began with a comparison to events the American Mathematical Society confronted in 1950. A close look at the AMS’s own archives for that period shows that the controversies that vexed the society around 1950 do indeed resonate strongly with those of today, but not in the ways recently suggested. Then, as now, the AMS confronted allegations of political and viewpoint discrimination in universities, the challenges of structural racism in American education and society, and the …

Pattern Blocks Art, Gunhan Caglayan

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Pattern blocks are versatile manipulatives facilitating connections that can be made among various strands of mathematics such as number sense, algebra, geometry and measurement, spatial reasoning, probability and trigonometry. This note focuses on an artistic interpretation of the pattern blocks with primary focus on convex polygons made with pattern blocks, and describes five mathematically rich activities using them.

Three Creativity-Fostering Projects Implemented In A Statistics Class, Margaret Adams

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Undergraduates in an introductory statistics class at a rural Southeastern college were assigned three creativity-fostering projects: statistics vocabulary crossword puzzle, word wall, and graffiti art poster. Given math anxiety, fear of failure, and lack of enthusiasm, it seemed imperative to spark interest and involvement. Rhodes 4P’s model (1961) served as the framework for this intrinsic case study involving 62 students. Independent thinking and research, peer collaboration, and use of art supplies within this model (person, press, process and product) generated remarkable learning outcomes. Grading rubrics focused on originality, quality and statistics content. Projects were classified into three qualitative categories ranging …

Using Departmental Publications To Foster Student Creativity In Mathematics, Zohreh Shahbazi, Parker Glynn-Adey

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This paper discusses the design and implementation of mathematical departmental publications. We argue that these publications foster students’ creativity and written communication skills.

Got Books? A Story Of Creative Mathematics Children's Book Writing, Maria G. Fung, Pamela Hollander

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

In this report, we describe a joint project between a mathematics content course and literacy methods course for pre-service elementary teachers that resulted in our students writing children's mathematically themed books. Out report then focuses first on the creative process of combining mathematical knowledge and ideas for teaching with the craft of writing for children, and second on the creative connection between mathematics and literacy education at the elementary school level.

Fostering Student Discovery And Conjecture In Multivariable Calculus, Aaron Wangberg

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Who owns the mathematical ideas in the undergraduate classroom? A traditional mathematics classroom and curriculum imposes several barriers that prevent students from discovering and engaging with mathematical concepts. Definitions, notations, and theorems require mastery before students can work meaningfully with the underlying mathematical concepts. Raising Calculus to the Surface utilizes a different approach by providing students multiple entry points to engage meaningfully with mathematics ideas and allows students to promote meaningful ideas and conjectures into the classroom discourse to formalize their explorations. In this paper, we describe several characteristics built into the project materials, including a rubric designed to encourage …

Inspiring Mathematical Creativity Through Juggling, Ceire Monahan, Mika Munakata, Ashwin Vaidya, Sean Gandini

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The goal of the Creativity in Mathematics and Science project, funded by the National Science Foundation’s [NSF’s] Improving Undergraduate STEM Educa- tion program, is to reconsider how we teach mathematics at the collegiate level. Over the last three years, we have developed interdisciplinary modules that seek to encourage students, including non-STEM majors, to see mathematics in unexpected places, make connections to their own interests and disciplines, and explore creativity in mathematics. Relying on traits of creativity such as the ability to connect ideas, be inquisitive, question norms, and have flexibility [1], we encouraged students to participate and understand mathematics in …

Innovative Induction And Mathematical Code Switching, Benjamin Dickman, Erik Nauman

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

In the first part of this paper, we provide an example of a project designed to foster mathematical creativity among students at an independent, all-girls school in the Northeast United States. The mathematical motivator for the project is a polyomino proof by induction first formulated by Solomon Golomb. We explain how the project has been implemented over the past two years at the school’s Innovation Lab in collaborative work between a mathematics instructor and an educational technologist, provide instructions and background information to facilitate the implementation of this project at other learning sites, and show examples of student work along …

Virtual Temari: Artistically Inspired Mathematics, Carl Giuffre, Lee Stemkoski

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Technology can be a significant aide in understanding and appreciating geometry, beyond theoretical considerations. Both fiber art and technology have been employed as a significant aide and an inspiring vessel in education to explore geometry. The Japanese craft known as temari, or "hand-balls", combines important artistic, spiritual, and familial values, and provides one such approach to exploring geometry. Mathematically, the artwork of temari may be classified based on whether they are inspired by polyhedra and discrete patterns or by periodic functional curves. The resulting designs of these categories provide an ancient vantage for displaying spherical patterns. We illustrate a …

The Surname Impossibility Theorem, Adam Graham-Squire

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The Surname Impossibility Theorem offers solace to anyone who has struggled in the quagmire of choosing a surname for a child. I posit that it is impossible to find a method for giving a child a surname that satisfies the important criteria of being traditional, aesthetically pleasing, ancestor-respecting, non-sexist, gender-neutral and non-heterosexist. My mathematical approach defines what those criteria would mean and analyzes different naming systems to conclude that no method could satisfy all criteria. In the same way that Arrow's Impossibility Theorem proved that no voting method can satisfy all criteria for a fair election, I prove the impossibility …

The Emergence Of Creativity: Insights From Carnatic Raaga Improvisation And Mathematical Proof Generation, Srividhya Balaji, Sean Chorney

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Creativity is a broad phenomenon that scholars have interpreted in a multitude of ways. We notice that a majority of the views describe creativity as something innate. This paper aims to verge from this perspective and explore creativity in terms of the constant mutual interaction of a person and their environment. Using the theoretical framework, enactivism, and the notion of emergence, we investigate the creative processes involved in musical improvisations of south Indian classical or Carnatic music and mathematical proof generation. Interview excerpts from professional Carnatic musicians and research mathematicians on their respective creative processes during musical improvisation and proof …

Fostering Mathematical Creativity While Impacting Beliefs And Anxiety In Mathematics, James M. Fetterly

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This quantitative study examined the notion of mathematical creativity and its relationship to epistemological beliefs of the nature of mathematics and mathematical anxiety. A counterbalanced design was employed, randomizing a class of elementary pre-service teachers into two groups and giving a pre- and post-test to determine if significant differences exist in the participants who are exposed to problem posing, divergent thought, and invented strategies, that is, a punctuated, intentional experience with mathematical creativity. This difference in mathematical anxiety, beliefs, and creativity was also gauged using repeated measures during the study. Furthermore, beliefs and anxiety were correlated with mathematical creativity employing …

Everyday Examples In Linear Algebra: Individual And Collective Creativity, Aditya P. Adiredja, Michelle Zandieh

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This paper investigates creativity in students’ constructions of everyday examples about basis in Linear Algebra. We analyze semi-structured interview data with 18 students from the U.S. and Germany with diverse academic and social backgrounds. Our analysis of creativity in students’ everyday examples is organized into two parts. First, we analyze the range of students’ creative products by investigating the mathematical variability in the more commonly mentioned examples. Second, we unpack some of the collective processes in the construction of students’ examples. We examine how creativity was distributed through the interactions among the student, the interviewers, and other artifacts and ideas. …

Recognizing Mathematics Students As Creative: Mathematical Creativity As Community-Based And Possibility-Expanding, Meghan Riling

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Although much creativity research has suggested that creativity is influenced by cultural and social factors, these have been minimally explored in the context of mathematics and mathematics learning. This problematically limits who is seen as mathematically creative and who can enter the discipline of mathematics. This paper proposes a framework of creativity that is based in what it means to know or do mathematics and accepts that creativity is something that can be nurtured in all students. Prominent mathematical epistemologies held since the beginning of the twentieth century in the Western mathematics tradition have different implications for promoting creativity in …

Special Issue -- Creativity In Mathematics: Foreword, Emily Cilli-Turner, Houssein El Turkey, Gulden Karakok, Milos Savic, Gail Tang

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

No abstract provided.

A World Of Creativity, Mark Huber, Gizem Karaali

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Roman Catholic Perspective Of Sin And Homosexuality: Scrutinizing The Signs Of The Times, Patrick U. Nwosu

International Review of Humanities Studies

In a pluralistic world, in which the issues of homosexuality and gay rights have taken the centre stage of discourse in Sub-Saharan Africa, critical analysis is required to re-appraise the Roman Catholic perspective of sin and homosexuality. Again, the emergence of the study of homosexuality as a subfield within African Studies gives further vent to critical reflection to assess the merits and demerits of Church pronouncements on the issues. In the context of emerging fields of study and various sexual orientations of people of different cultures today, the issue of the Roman Catholic understanding of sin and her teaching on …

Comparison Traditional Folklore Between Chinese Pi Ying And Indonesian Wayang Kulit, Zhang Guannan

International Review of Humanities Studies

Chinese Pi Ying and Indonesian Wayang Kulit as known as the crystal of folklore from two different countries. This article is aim to make a comparison between these two traditional folklore. Pi Ying and Wayang Kulit both are made from wood and paper or animal skin. The function of these two folklore is giving a show or performance to audiences based on traditional stories or mythological stories. Compared with Wayang Kulit, Chinese Pi Ying was originated from Han Dynasty, earlier than Wayang Kulit. As traditional arts, coming with improvement of digital technology, Chinese Pi Ying and Wayang Kulit are losing …