Rising to the Challenge of Diversifying the Mathematics Community

Alissa Crans and Dave Kung

Speakers

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Under­represented minority students are more likely to drop out of college. Minority students and women are more likely to leak from the STEM pipeline at every stage from middle school on. Why do we need to address these issue? What can we do in our classrooms, departments, and institutions to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to succeed? When faced with a challenging situation, what will you do to make our world a more just place? In this session, we’ll dive into these issues - as an example of the kinds of professional development we provide to new mathematics faculty in MAA Project NExT.

Speakers:

Dave Kung teaches at St. Mary's College of Maryland and directs MAA Project NExT. After studying analysis, he switched to mathematics education, looking at instructor knowledge of student thinking. He has won his MAA section’s teaching and service awards, and he has passionately pushed to diversify mathematics. In his spare time, he runs, bikes, and plays violin - and coerces his daughter to join him.

Alissa Crans is a Professor of Mathematics at Loyola Marymount University and an Associate Director of MAA Project NExT. Her professional interests include higher-dimensional and quantum algebra, relationships between math and music, and encouraging and supporting diversity and inclusivity in mathematics. She enjoys playing the clarinet, running, and baking (not cooking!).