Decolonise maths degrees by subtracting white male theorists, Durham urges
University asks tutors to question the background of mathematicians and use non-Western examples
THE mathematics curriculum at a leading university is being “decolonised”, with professors urged to write biographies of theorists, question if they are mostly white or male, and consider the cultural origins of numbers.
Durham University’s decolonisation drive has swept up the Department of Mathematical Sciences, where staff are being urged to make the subject “more inclusive” and ensure “maths can be used to aid attempts to secure equality”.
Its new guide for academics says that decolonising the maths curriculum “means considering the cultural origins of the mathematical concepts, focuses, and notation we most commonly use”.
Scholars at the Russell Group university, ranked seventh in the UK for maths, have been urged to reconsider how “the power of 10, represented by the word ‘billion’, differs from country to country” and how the Indian mathematician Brahmagupta assigned a different meaning to the value of zero.
They are told that “the question of whether we have allowed Western mathematicians to dominate in our discipline is no less relevant than whether we have allowed Western authors to dominate the field of literature”.
Staff are urged to “consider giving short biographies of the mathematicians whose work you present in your modules”, and if they are “almost entirely (or even completely) white and/ or male, ask yourself why this is”.
When using real-world examples to illustrate mathematical puzzles, they are encouraged to venture “outside of a Western frame of reference”.
As an example, the guide says that Simpson’s paradox, a phenomenon in probability and statistics, is often illustrated using survivors of the Titanic and enrolments in a US university, but an alternative that “decentres Europe” might involve “the under-representation of Maori in New Zealand jury pools”.
Scholars have questioned whether it is appropriate for the objective discipline of maths to be conflated with subjective approaches to the past.
Prof Doug Stokes, a social sciences expert at Exeter University, said: “The idea behind decolonising maths is that because everyone should be regarded as equal, the status of their beliefs must also be equal.
“This judgmental relativism is an inversion of science, which is based on what is real rather than making everybody feel included.
“Science and reason are what has led humanity out of the darkness and we jettison their precious light at our peril.”
A spokesman for Durham University said: “The maths curriculum remains the same, but we also encourage students to be more aware of the global and diverse origins of the subject and the range of cultural settings that have shaped it.”