Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of posts on other AMS blogs that have piqued my interest and really got me thinking about a variety of different subjects. As we approach the end of this interesting and oh-so-challenging year, I offer you a roundup of some thought-provoking posts on other AMS blogs.
On the inclusion/exclusion blog:
“Queering Mathematics” by Brian Katz
I’m sad to see that Katz is stepping down as Editor-in-Chief, but if you haven’t read “Hopes for a new Editor-in-Chief,” I recommend that you do so.
Katz wrote about Trans Day of Remembrance and the LGBTQ+Math Day, which was held virtually at the Fields Institute.
“An event like this contributes to the visibility of queer people and our accomplices/allies, and a major theme of our conversation was the fact that each of us, by virtue of existing, queered spaces by being in them, from the rugby pitch to mathematics conferences. But for this post, I’d like to reflect on the ways that I saw our queer identities influencing our mathematics,” Katz wrote.
On the day of the conference, I was only able to watch bits and pieces of the talks, so I’m glad that Katz mentioned that the talks are going to be available on YouTube in coming weeks.
Also, if you missed Trans Day of Remembrance or weren’t aware of it, I have a suggestion. Please consider spending some time thinking about the trans lives lost this year (and in years past) and what we can do to embrace trans folks within the mathematics community and beyond.
For instance, Juliette Bruce, a NSF postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley and a postdoctoral fellow at MSRI who spoke about “Computing Syzygies” at the conference, tweeted that she is working with others in Spectra “to create a working group seeking to address the harm that current standard publishing practices often do to the trans community, as well as to advocate for the adoption of more trans inclusive publishing practices.” I look forward to learning more about that group’s work and any recommendations they make on trans-inclusive publishing practices within mathematics. Also, on the inclusion/exclusion blog, a group of guest authors just wrote about “Building Gender and Sexuality Allyship in the Mathematics Community.”
On the Math Mamas blog:
“The wonder and arbitrary path of becoming a (foster) parent” by Adi Adiredja
I’m a sucker for stories about foster parenting. Come for Adiredja’s recounting of planning to “just be revising papers till tenure” while adjusting “into my new role as a queer single parent,” stay for Adiredja’s description of life with foster daughter M. Here’s a snippet:
“The first time I met M, she told me that her favorite school subject was math. I believed it was a sign! Of course, later I found out M had googled me and learned about my job. Did I tell you this girl was smart?”
“A Message From a Black Mother” by Emille Davie Lawrence
Lawrence wrote about her concerns as a Black mother of two Black kids and asked “When have you opened a door for a Black colleague or gone out of your way to encourage a Black student? When have you spoken out against racist systems that are in place in math departments in every corner of America? What are you doing to diversify the faculty in your department?”
On the Living Proof blog:
“Celebrating Women in Mathematics, by Denise Rangel Tracy and Oscar Vega”
This post describes a project of the Association for Women in Mathematics in which “a commemorative deck of cards has been created. Using one side of the cards, several different variations of a mathematical game called EvenQuads can be played. The other side of the deck features portraits and short biographies of 64 exceptional women mathematicians. This deck helps bring women mathematicians, both historical and modern, into the spotlight.”
Have an idea you would like for us to cover? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter (@writesRCrowell).