Amusingly, it was ALSO an ethno class - ethnomathematics, the mathematics of indigenous peoples!
What was your favorite early clas NOT in your eventual major. Mine was Ethnomusicology: an introduction to folk music.
I invariably get, "Ooh anthro that was my favorite class/cool professor" from people I meet. I tend to think soms of it is our outré material, being willing to talk "taboo" subjects in a cross-cultural context.
Ironically MY favorite class was probably Geology 101...
Ironically MY favorite class was probably Geology 101...
July 28, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Amusingly, it was ALSO an ethno class - ethnomathematics, the mathematics of indigenous peoples!
Such a cool duo of palaeo-ethnomathematics and sign systems this past couple of weeks:
1. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
2. journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
1. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
2. journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
February 27, 2026 at 8:08 AM
Such a cool duo of palaeo-ethnomathematics and sign systems this past couple of weeks:
1. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
2. journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
1. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
2. journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Writing an ethnomathematics grant proposal and managed to construct the acronym THEOREM.
Feeling very proud.
Feeling very proud.
November 5, 2024 at 4:04 PM
Writing an ethnomathematics grant proposal and managed to construct the acronym THEOREM.
Feeling very proud.
Feeling very proud.
The boys have been getting 2 blocks of math a day in their class.
One with Juneau School District’s iReady math curriculum and another with Lingít ethnomathematics!
One with Juneau School District’s iReady math curriculum and another with Lingít ethnomathematics!
November 15, 2025 at 5:19 PM
The boys have been getting 2 blocks of math a day in their class.
One with Juneau School District’s iReady math curriculum and another with Lingít ethnomathematics!
One with Juneau School District’s iReady math curriculum and another with Lingít ethnomathematics!
Application season is over, so it’s time to get back to thinking about serious things.
Like the ethnomathematics of knot-tying.
Tied this good luck knot to get started.
Like the ethnomathematics of knot-tying.
Tied this good luck knot to get started.
January 10, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Application season is over, so it’s time to get back to thinking about serious things.
Like the ethnomathematics of knot-tying.
Tied this good luck knot to get started.
Like the ethnomathematics of knot-tying.
Tied this good luck knot to get started.
I have decided that I can't pretend to be an ethnomathematics researcher and self-ascribed "string theorist" (anthropologist of string and knots?) without being able to tie a khipu.
So here goes. A project for the holidays. Will update my progress later.
So here goes. A project for the holidays. Will update my progress later.
December 5, 2025 at 9:51 AM
I have decided that I can't pretend to be an ethnomathematics researcher and self-ascribed "string theorist" (anthropologist of string and knots?) without being able to tie a khipu.
So here goes. A project for the holidays. Will update my progress later.
So here goes. A project for the holidays. Will update my progress later.
Math is more than formulas; it’s a human story. In our latest Math Values post, Shakiyya Bland, Ed.D., explores how ethnomathematics connects culture, identity, and learning. Read here: maa.org/math-values/...
Ethnomathematics: A Culturally Responsive Approach to Learning – Mathematical Association of America
maa.org
September 19, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Math is more than formulas; it’s a human story. In our latest Math Values post, Shakiyya Bland, Ed.D., explores how ethnomathematics connects culture, identity, and learning. Read here: maa.org/math-values/...
* I'm a professor of mathematics at Hofstra University on Long Island. Logician by research interest, probabilist by teaching interest.
* My History of Math class: I got to teach Hilbert #10, and I brought in Ximena Catepillán to give a talk on ethnomathematics!
#ITeachMath
* My History of Math class: I got to teach Hilbert #10, and I brought in Ximena Catepillán to give a talk on ethnomathematics!
#ITeachMath
November 12, 2023 at 4:41 PM
* I'm a professor of mathematics at Hofstra University on Long Island. Logician by research interest, probabilist by teaching interest.
* My History of Math class: I got to teach Hilbert #10, and I brought in Ximena Catepillán to give a talk on ethnomathematics!
#ITeachMath
* My History of Math class: I got to teach Hilbert #10, and I brought in Ximena Catepillán to give a talk on ethnomathematics!
#ITeachMath
always the fiber art traditions that are deemed "ethnomathematics".
June 23, 2026 at 4:26 AM
always the fiber art traditions that are deemed "ethnomathematics".
All are exemplary cases of ethnomathematics.
Instructions follow if you want to try your luck!
Itubwer: llx.com/Neil/string/...
Whale and Fox: youtu.be/v9kjYfaFRxo?...
Swan: youtu.be/CMpBO_W9FzA?...
Instructions follow if you want to try your luck!
Itubwer: llx.com/Neil/string/...
Whale and Fox: youtu.be/v9kjYfaFRxo?...
Swan: youtu.be/CMpBO_W9FzA?...
February 19, 2025 at 11:09 AM
All are exemplary cases of ethnomathematics.
Instructions follow if you want to try your luck!
Itubwer: llx.com/Neil/string/...
Whale and Fox: youtu.be/v9kjYfaFRxo?...
Swan: youtu.be/CMpBO_W9FzA?...
Instructions follow if you want to try your luck!
Itubwer: llx.com/Neil/string/...
Whale and Fox: youtu.be/v9kjYfaFRxo?...
Swan: youtu.be/CMpBO_W9FzA?...
Made this for my Ethnomathematics course. It isn’t perfect, but neither am I.
February 2, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Made this for my Ethnomathematics course. It isn’t perfect, but neither am I.
Cool Site 2: Mathigon.org/Timeline from the British maths org! This interactive timeline shows the epic, global sweep of mathematical discovery, development, and influencers through 22,000 years of human history. #MultiverseOfMathness #MathEd #ITeachMath #MathSky #ethnomathematics
Timeline of Mathematics – Mathigon
Travel through time and explore the greatest mathematicians and biggest mathematical discoveries in history.
Mathigon.org
November 22, 2024 at 6:17 AM
Cool Site 2: Mathigon.org/Timeline from the British maths org! This interactive timeline shows the epic, global sweep of mathematical discovery, development, and influencers through 22,000 years of human history. #MultiverseOfMathness #MathEd #ITeachMath #MathSky #ethnomathematics
#Ethnomathematics: For #Diwali (late Oct./early Nov.), I explain the holiday, show a short video of a rangoli artist at work, and show a few examples. I ask students to color a rangoli-ish pattern, notice how they feel, and consider why symmetry has a calming effect. #ITeachMath #MathEd #MathSky
December 21, 2024 at 6:17 AM
#Ethnomathematics: For #Diwali (late Oct./early Nov.), I explain the holiday, show a short video of a rangoli artist at work, and show a few examples. I ask students to color a rangoli-ish pattern, notice how they feel, and consider why symmetry has a calming effect. #ITeachMath #MathEd #MathSky
For #BlackHistoryMonth, I introduced my students to (clockwise from upper left) Benjamin Banneker, Euphemia Haynes, Ernest Wilkins, Katherine Johnson, Gladys West, and John Urschel, all of whom are truly inspiring! #ITeachMath #MathEd #ethnomathematics #MultiverseOfMathness
February 27, 2025 at 7:44 AM
For #BlackHistoryMonth, I introduced my students to (clockwise from upper left) Benjamin Banneker, Euphemia Haynes, Ernest Wilkins, Katherine Johnson, Gladys West, and John Urschel, all of whom are truly inspiring! #ITeachMath #MathEd #ethnomathematics #MultiverseOfMathness
I guess ethnomathematics? I hate that term. But anyway I've been pushed out of math so I can't remember whatever resources I might have once known.
@thewordninjabk.bsky.social ? @marissakawehi.bsky.social ?
@thewordninjabk.bsky.social ? @marissakawehi.bsky.social ?
November 22, 2024 at 1:37 AM
I guess ethnomathematics? I hate that term. But anyway I've been pushed out of math so I can't remember whatever resources I might have once known.
@thewordninjabk.bsky.social ? @marissakawehi.bsky.social ?
@thewordninjabk.bsky.social ? @marissakawehi.bsky.social ?
ethnomathematics, marcia ascher
June 23, 2026 at 4:44 AM
ethnomathematics, marcia ascher
Don't miss the 2026 Einstein Public Lecture, "Voyaging Toward Mathematical Unity Through Ethnomathematics," given by Linda Furuto, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, this weekend at the AMS Spring Western Sectional Meeting in Boise, Idaho. https://www.ams.org/meetings/lectures/einstein-lecture
March 5, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Don't miss the 2026 Einstein Public Lecture, "Voyaging Toward Mathematical Unity Through Ethnomathematics," given by Linda Furuto, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, this weekend at the AMS Spring Western Sectional Meeting in Boise, Idaho. https://www.ams.org/meetings/lectures/einstein-lecture
I’ll also reintroduce myself!
I’m an interdisciplinary human scientist. I would like to call myself a cognitive anthropologist, but I’m actually neither a cognitive scientist nor an anthropologist.
I research many things, from ethnomathematics to ethnomycology (yeah, mushrooms).
roopekaaronen.net
I’m an interdisciplinary human scientist. I would like to call myself a cognitive anthropologist, but I’m actually neither a cognitive scientist nor an anthropologist.
I research many things, from ethnomathematics to ethnomycology (yeah, mushrooms).
roopekaaronen.net
About
About me
roopekaaronen.net
October 22, 2024 at 11:43 AM
I’ll also reintroduce myself!
I’m an interdisciplinary human scientist. I would like to call myself a cognitive anthropologist, but I’m actually neither a cognitive scientist nor an anthropologist.
I research many things, from ethnomathematics to ethnomycology (yeah, mushrooms).
roopekaaronen.net
I’m an interdisciplinary human scientist. I would like to call myself a cognitive anthropologist, but I’m actually neither a cognitive scientist nor an anthropologist.
I research many things, from ethnomathematics to ethnomycology (yeah, mushrooms).
roopekaaronen.net
Finally, working with strings is very algorithmic, it's a form of ethnomathematics - esp. ethno-topology - and it may have been a meeting ground between human brains and mathematical cognition for millennia as early humans were 'honing their tools of the mind' (osf.io/preprints/ps...)
OSF
osf.io
March 31, 2025 at 6:53 AM
Finally, working with strings is very algorithmic, it's a form of ethnomathematics - esp. ethno-topology - and it may have been a meeting ground between human brains and mathematical cognition for millennia as early humans were 'honing their tools of the mind' (osf.io/preprints/ps...)
Never heard of, but interesting: ethnomathematics
Professor Darrah Chavey on the mathematical Sona Drawings of the Chokwe people that live in the area around Congo, Angola and Zambia, that use these often symmetric drawings to teach lessons, pass on values etc.
3/4
3/4
March 18, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Never heard of, but interesting: ethnomathematics
Indeed, we and others argue that string figures should be considered a form of ethnomathematics.
Ethnotopology, we call it.
Across cultures, people have taken this art to extreme complexities. Sometimes, it’s even a competitive mind sport.
And so, perhaps an early case of mathematical cognition?
Ethnotopology, we call it.
Across cultures, people have taken this art to extreme complexities. Sometimes, it’s even a competitive mind sport.
And so, perhaps an early case of mathematical cognition?
December 4, 2024 at 1:41 PM
Indeed, we and others argue that string figures should be considered a form of ethnomathematics.
Ethnotopology, we call it.
Across cultures, people have taken this art to extreme complexities. Sometimes, it’s even a competitive mind sport.
And so, perhaps an early case of mathematical cognition?
Ethnotopology, we call it.
Across cultures, people have taken this art to extreme complexities. Sometimes, it’s even a competitive mind sport.
And so, perhaps an early case of mathematical cognition?
also notable is that e.g. the quipu of the incas is upheld as one of the most well-known "ethnomathematics". as an academic lens for how the things we label "mathematics" are experienced within differing material contexts the term's fine but some folks seem to take it as "math, but Ethnic".
June 23, 2026 at 4:20 AM
also notable is that e.g. the quipu of the incas is upheld as one of the most well-known "ethnomathematics". as an academic lens for how the things we label "mathematics" are experienced within differing material contexts the term's fine but some folks seem to take it as "math, but Ethnic".
3. Next, brainstorming. I wrote a prompt based on four elements (the Alhambra, ethnomathematics, wallpaper symmetry groups, and wallpaper) I had already done all the research myself for a chapter I was considering. The answer was uninspired and helped only insofar as it led me to scrap it.
January 4, 2026 at 3:09 AM
3. Next, brainstorming. I wrote a prompt based on four elements (the Alhambra, ethnomathematics, wallpaper symmetry groups, and wallpaper) I had already done all the research myself for a chapter I was considering. The answer was uninspired and helped only insofar as it led me to scrap it.
My own rabbit hole from this:
Kaktovik -> Ethnomathematics -> Japanese mathematics -> Jinkōki -> Josephus problem -> Flavius Josephus -> Siege of Masada -> Masada myth -> Politics of archaeology in Israel and Palestine -> Price tag attack policy -> Vandalism -> Graffiti -> Graffito (archaeology)
Kaktovik -> Ethnomathematics -> Japanese mathematics -> Jinkōki -> Josephus problem -> Flavius Josephus -> Siege of Masada -> Masada myth -> Politics of archaeology in Israel and Palestine -> Price tag attack policy -> Vandalism -> Graffiti -> Graffito (archaeology)
November 29, 2025 at 12:38 PM
My own rabbit hole from this:
Kaktovik -> Ethnomathematics -> Japanese mathematics -> Jinkōki -> Josephus problem -> Flavius Josephus -> Siege of Masada -> Masada myth -> Politics of archaeology in Israel and Palestine -> Price tag attack policy -> Vandalism -> Graffiti -> Graffito (archaeology)
Kaktovik -> Ethnomathematics -> Japanese mathematics -> Jinkōki -> Josephus problem -> Flavius Josephus -> Siege of Masada -> Masada myth -> Politics of archaeology in Israel and Palestine -> Price tag attack policy -> Vandalism -> Graffiti -> Graffito (archaeology)