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Closing Thoughts without Closure
This is my last Global Math Department newsletter contribution for the 2019-2020 academic year, which is wrapping up in much of the United States. I’m proud of the newsletters I’ve written this year, and ways in which I have been more involved at GMD (including managing the Twitter account since April 22). To this end, I want to shout out all the GMD contributors – past and present – as all work has been foundational to pushing further forward in thought and action.
Four closing items, which I will briefly name so that you can read, scroll, or avoid as desired:
- Nepantla Teachers Community posts;
- Opposition to proposed anti-Chinese legislation that targets graduate students in STEM;
- Seattle Public Schools and the continued pushback against their wonderful Ethnic Studies Framework;
- Three online happenings over the summer.
First, check out the Student Voices in Remote Learning series from the Nepantla Teachers Community.
See also their Statement of Solidarity with Communities of Color:
Pay attention to which organizations and institutions are speaking out at this time — and which ones aren’t — and be sure to hold them accountable. In this sense, the Global Math Department, followed by over five thousand math educators, cannot be seen as exempt, even as it has not issued analogous statements in the past. Look out for something to come from GMD, and hold us accountable thereafter!
Second, note the beginning of public-facing political stances taken by GMD in the following tweet about Sinophobic, xenophobic, and racist legislation proposed around Chinese graduate students working in STEM:
Third, be sure to read Shraddha Shirude’s post borne from the continued pushback against the Great Work done on Seattle’s Ethnic Studies Framework, as well as related tweets from Xi Yu and others.
Fourth, and finally, this is shaping up to be a summer in which we need to strengthen ourselves. For some, this means digitally disconnecting after too many Zoom calls, too many emails, too many videos that autoplay without trigger warnings, and, more generally, too much of too much. Do not burn yourself out!
For others and/or at other times, there are a number of webinars, conferences, seminars, and various forms of professional development (so to speak) that may reinvigorate. To mention just three:
Even without upcoming newsletters, I can be pinged (on Twitter or otherwise) if there is something in or adjacent to the worlds of mathematics education that you believe should be amplified. I’ve recently been thinking about math trails (related thoughts very welcome!) and will likely be on the grid for most of the summer.
And, in case you haven’t heard/read it recently enough: Black Lives Matter.
– Benjamin Dickman [@benjamindickman]
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