Ethnomathematics Digital Library (EDL)

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Culture: African American

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29 Records

African and African-American contributions to mathematics
by Beatrice Lumpkin
[http://www.pps.k12.or.us/depts-c/mc-me/be-af-ma.pdf]
Geographical area: Africa, United States of America
Cultural group: African, African American

African fractals in development: indigenous science for education and development: a boot-strapping approach
by Ron Eglash
[http://www.rpi.edu/~eglash/eglash.dir/develop.htm]
This webpage proposes that a center for science and mathematics be built in a region of Senegal to utilize the existing knowledge about science and mathematics, especially fractals, of the people in that area. The center would help the development of the area by blending current knowledge with modern resources and technologies.
Subject: Applied Mathematics>Engineering Mathematics>Architecture and Building,
Instructional Issues>Educational Research
Geographical area: United States of America
Cultural group: African American

African fractals: modern computing and indigenous design
by Ron Eglash (1999)
[http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/special/eglash.african.fractals.html]
This article discusses how the "bottom-up" or self-organized location of huts in Tanzania, art design among the Mangbetu in central Africa, and Mali windscreens are based on fractal geometry patterns. Traditional Bamana divination uses addition modulo 2, a pseudo random-number generator based on a numerical feedback loop just as fractals are based on a geometric feedback loop. Thus, traditional African mathematics might be more complicated than first believed. If the development of mathematics is viewed as a branching rather than a hierarchical structure, then the mathematical expansion of fractals on the African branches may have developed much earlier than those on the European branches. Other terms: pattern, architecture, hairstyles, artwork, mathematical heritage.
Subject: Applied Mathematics>Mathematical Sociology>Religious Practices,
Applied Mathematics>Mathematics for Humanities>Decorative Arts and Design,
Cultural Context>Cultural Perspectives on Mathematics,
Geometry and Topology>Plane Geometry>Fractal Geometry
Geographical area: Africa, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania, United States of America
Cultural group: African, African American, Bamana (Senegal), Mangbetu (Central Africa)

African overview: fractal geometry
by Ron Eglash
[http://www.ccd.rpi.edu/Eglash/csdt/african.html]
This webpage shows fractal patterns found in African designs. Fractals are “patterns that repeat themselves at many scales.” One link leads to the Koch curve, a fractal pattern invented by mathematicians in the 19th or early 20th century. Other terms: scaling patterns, cornrows, transformational geometry, Mangbetu, Owari, numeric patterns.
Subject: Applied Mathematics>Mathematics for Humanities>Decorative Arts and Design>Hairstyles,
Applied Mathematics>Mathematics for Humanities>Decorative Arts and Design,
Cultural Context>Cultural Perspectives on Mathematics,
Geometry and Topology>Plane Geometry>Fractal Geometry,
Instructional Issues>Instructional Materials
Geographical area: Africa, United States of America
Cultural group: African, African American

Africanisms in American mathematical and information sciences
by Ron Eglash (1995)
[http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/special/eglash.africanisms-in-math.html]
This paper, presented at Howard University's AFRICON electronic conference in January 1995, discusses several challenges in the study of African cultural influences in mathematical sciences. African culture and the African diaspora have shown diversity and dynamism, and encompass both fractal and euclidian, analog and digital knowledge systems. Africanisms in American mathematical and information sciences include Benjamin Banneker's use of doubling to generate an estimate for the method of false position and the quincunx as a geometrical form, as well as E. E. Just's use of information encoded in non-symbolic representation. Other terms: racism, slave culture, coding, geometry, recursion, European culture, quilting patterns, nonlinear mathematics, cybernetics, Woolof society, Judaism, golem, animism, religion, technology, music, General Systems Theory (GST), women. (Includes 26 references)
Subject: Cultural Context>Cultural Diversity,
Cultural Context>Cultural Perspectives on Mathematics,
Geometry and Topology>Plane Geometry>Fractal Geometry
Geographical area: Africa, United States of America
Cultural group: African, African American

Culturally situated design tools: teaching math through culture
by Ron Eglash
[http://www.rpi.edu/~eglash/csdt.html]
This applet software is designed to show students how African, African American, youth subculture, Native American, and Latino cultural designs are based on mathematical principles. Students can explore the use mathematics to recreate existing patterns and structures, or to make their own designs. Standards-based lesson plans, evaluations, and other teaching materials are provided to support the software. Other terms: simulation, artifacts (Note: Each lesson is also treated as a separate entry in the Ethnomathematics Digital Library. Includes 1 weblink to general teaching materials not included in the separate entries)
Subject: Applied Mathematics>Mathematics for Humanities>Decorative Arts and Design,
Cultural Context>Cultural Perspectives on Mathematics,
Instructional Issues>Instructional Materials
Geographical area: Africa, United States of America
Cultural group: African, African American, Latino (see also Hispanic American), Native American (United States)

Ethnomathematics and the challenges of racism in mathematics education
by Arthur Powell (2002)
[http://www.congress-consult.com/mes3/Plenaries/Powell.doc]
This paper uses literature and history to show how African Americans and other minority populations have been and still are negatively affected by mathematics teaching. Several different examples, including European Colonialism, Ancient Greek civilization, and the history of mathematics, are used to explain why minority students consistently struggle with mathematics. Globalization, ethics, and cultural diversity have as much to do with learning mathematics as do algebra, geometry, and arithmetic. Teaching mathematics in culturally relevant ways will be beneficial for both teachers and students. Other terms: Vas de Camoes, Os Lusiadas, Adamastor episode, Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, false position, politics, dignity, calculus, Ahmose Mathematical Papyrus, numerical tables, calculations, theoretical orientation, analytic method, Angolan sand drawings, imperialism, social justice, research, pedagogy, cooperative learning, collaborative learning, multiculturalism, peer group. (Includes 39 references)
Subject: Cultural Context>Cultural Perspectives on Mathematics>Euro-centrism,
Instructional Issues>Attitudes,
Instructional Issues>Minority Students
Geographical area: United States of America
Cultural group: African American

Ethnomathematics: an African American perspective on developing women in mathematics
by Gloria Gilmer
[http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/csme/meas/papers/gilmer.html]
This paper uses gender, ethnomathematics, and social context research to guide practice in mathematics teaching and learning. It focuses on three principles of feminist pedagogy that are useful for developing mathematical power in all students. Teachers should have students use their own experience to build knowledge, use cooperative learning, and develop a community of learners. Strategies for discerning mathematical ideas in everyday life are presented using the example of African American hair braiding. Other terms: equality, educators, theorem, rectangular tessellations, pattern, income, time, cost. (Includes 24 references)
Subject: Applied Mathematics>Mathematics for Humanities>Decorative Arts and Design>Hairstyles,
Cultural Context>Cultural Diversity>Women's Role in Mathematics,
Cultural Context>Influence of Culture on Learning Mathematics,
Cultural Context>Influence of Culture on Teaching Mathematics,
Geometry and Topology>Plane Geometry>Patterns>Tilings and Tessellations,
Instructional Issues>Learning Theory
Geographical area: United States of America
Cultural group: African American

Excerpts from World Cultures in the Mathematics Class HIMED Conference
by Claudia Zaslavsky (1990)
[http://www.ethnomath.org/resources/ISGEm/049.htm]
This article presents excerpts from the 1990 World Cultures in the Mathematics Class History In Mathematics Education (HIMED) Conference. Zaslavsky describes the mathematical practices of the indigenous peoples of America and Africa that are suitable for inclusion in middle and primary grades. For example, some cultures use number systems based on ten while others, including the Maya, use systems based on twenty. Four advantages to introducing multicultural perspectives into the mathematics curriculum are that students become aware of mathematics in all socieites, they appreciate cultural contributions, other disciplines have more meaning, and people's cultural heritage builds self-esteem. Other terms: Thomas Fuller, Yoruba, Middle America, global village, numeration systems, mental arithmetic. (Includes 7 references)
Subject: Cultural Context>Influence of Culture on Teaching Mathematics>Multicultural Approaches to Teaching,
Cultural Context>Cultural Perspectives on Mathematics,
Instructional Issues>Curriculum
Geographical area: United States of America
Cultural group: African American, Inuit (Native American - North America), Mayan (Native American - Mexico and Central America), Native American (United States), Yoruba (Africa)

Good-bye Pythagoras?: 'Ethnomathematics' embraces non-European methods of math; critics fear a decline in rigor
by Elizabeth Greene (2000)
[http://chronicle.com/free/v47/i06/06a01601.htm]
This article presents views from both sides of the ethnomathematics debate. Proponents of ethnomathematics describe it as a way to bring all students into the learning of mathematics. Critics voice concerns about whether it is an effective way to teach students what they need to know to succeed. Several compromise viewpoints are presented, particularly by teachers who want to use ethnomathematics in the classroom but primarily teach students the techniques of Western mathematics. Other terms: cultural perspective, minority students, calendar, anthropology, skeptic, teacher education, community college, base-10 number system, geometry, infinity, Maya, Egypt, Africa, African American, hairstyle, fractals, middle school, high school, multicultural, curriculum.
Subject: Cultural Context>Cultural Perspectives on Mathematics>Euro-centrism,
Instructional Issues>Attitudes,
Instructional Issues>Curriculum
Geographical area: Africa, Asia, Egypt, Europe, India
Cultural group: African, African American, Asian, Egyptian, European, Greek, Mayan (Native American - Mexico and Central America)

The Ethnomathematics Digital Library is a component of the National Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education Digital Library (NSDL), funded by the National Science Foundation.