This goal was  fulfilled through International Studies in Mathematics History, which has a study abroad component, in spring of 2017. This class was amazing. I was able to learn about the mathematics of different cultures and how they contributed to modern day society. Some of the aspects were hard due to the fact we were doing the math the way the people who discovered and used the math of that era did it. We had to learn some of the history to understand why math  developed the way it did, such as the Islamic world becoming the center of education or the dark ages stagnating math in year, though it was still “taught”. In addition to the culture we learned through learning the math in the classroom, we had to learn about, present on, and go to England and France. This was a great way to learn more about the culture and history of the countries. I presented on the political parties of the modern day UK, while my classmates presented on education or government among other things about the UK or France. Actually going to the countries was truly a spectacular experience. Adjusting to the way people act over there took a bit of flexibility, but I really enjoyed the experience. It was great to be able to tie math, a discipline I love, into other disciplines that rarely ever get paired with math, such as history and politics. I remember during one of the classes my professor, Dr. Emerson-Stonnell, said “that’s enough of history, let’s get back to math,” which struck me as a statement whose opposite (“that’s enough of math, let’s get back to history”) I would never hear a history professor utter. It was a great class for learning about diversity in a way that allowed me to still learn about math.

The presentation I had to give on England is below