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Town Hall Meeting

Quantitative Literacy and Social Justice

Friday, August 2, 3:00 p.m. - 4:20 p.m., Duke Energy Convention Center, Room 201

Description

At the 2019 Joint Mathematics Meetings, Dave Kung and Kira Hamman called for a need to teach mathematics and quantitative literacy with an eye toward social justice. As part of their presentation, they not only reiterated the importance of promoting quantitative literacy for social justice (and vice versa), but they also pushed the audience to consider diverse and potentially divisive issues ranging from who “receives” quantitative literacy on their campus to how students are positioned in mathematics classrooms. Their remarks accentuate that the relationship between quantitative literacy and social justice is complex, and that there is much for the mathematics and quantitative literacy communities to consider as we teach in an era of alternative facts, dueling memes, and politically charged classrooms.

SIGMAA-QL would like to invite all members of the mathematics community who are interested in issues of social justice as well as pathways toward a quantitatively literate society to a town hall discussion at MathFest 2019 to follow up on some of these questions. In particular at this session we hope to start a much needed conversation about the roles people of mathematics can play in promoting quantitative literacy for social justice (and vice versa). Issues we would like to discuss range from teaching mathematics for social justice, to the role of QL in charting a path towards a more just society, to the future of SIGMAA-QL as an ambassador of mathematicians interested in these issues. The organizers will come in with questions to initiate and facilitate the conversation, but we invite everyone interested to come and make their voices be heard.

Organizers:
Gizem Karaali, Pomona College
Mark A. Branson, Stevenson University
Catherine Crockett, Point Loma Nazarene University
Victor Piercey, Ferris State University
Luke Tunstall, Trinity University

Sponsor:
SIGMAA on Quantitative Literacy (SIGMAA QL)

 
Year: 
2019