Our Math Roots

Our Math Roots is an annual conference facilitated by Knowles Senior Fellow Rebecca Guarino at Manhattan Village Academy in NYC. This conference showcases the workshops created by students as part of their final project for the semester-long Ethnomathematics course. The course, Ethnomathematics, highlights the contributions of mathematical knowledge from non-European backgrounds to decenter Eurocentrism in the math classroom. These workshops ranged from Set Theory in Conquian to Ratios in Matcha to Fractals in Catholic Architecture to deriving Binomial Patterns from Honduran Hammocks, all connecting mathematics to students’ own cultures and identities.

This year, High School of American Studies, Knowles Teaching Fellow Lekha Tantry, and Capital City Public Charter School joined the conference. When asked their favorite part of the conference, Rebecca and Lekha said “Our favorite part of the showcase was the diversity of projects students had chosen – we learned so much about Bangladeshi resistance, as well as the density of soups in Latin America. Additionally, it is beautiful to see students sharing about their cultures and histories with their peers. Watching students who have expressed not finding joy in mathematics thrive in a non-testing setting is inspiring.”