Reparations as a Theme for a joint Mathematics-Political Economy Course

Author(s)
Paul
McCreary
*,
The Evergreen State College
Anthony
Zaragoza
,
The Evergreen State College
Talk Abstract
We will describe experiences in teaching a course titled Calculating the Value of Reparations and the History of Mathematics. The issues of reparations is in the recent news, e.g. fourteen Caribbean nations suing for slavery reparations and Greece requesting additional WWII reparations. Reparations were addressed by national governments concerning the internment of Japanese-Americans and in the agreement between Israel and Germany. They are still being considered in the cases of African slaves and their descendants, and of Native Americans vis-a-vis the actions of the US and Canadian governments and corporations. Computing and debating the validity and value of reparations is timely and relevant. Finding connections with these issues and the history of Egyptian, Mayan, and Basque mathematical ideas provides a natural context for investigations in the liberal arts.
Time Slot
2015-03-20T16:30:00