Equity,Inclusion & Diversity

To request a disability-related accommodation(s) to participate in the meeting, including auxiliary aids or services, or alternative formats, please contact Catherine Cannizzo at at least 7 to 10 business days before the event.

April 30, 2024: Special lecture by Professor Duane Cooper (Morehouse College, also 1993 PhD Berkeley alum) and Professor Christopher Jett (Georgia State University). Prof. Jett as part of his math research interviewed a cohort of 16 Black male math majors at Morehouse College, and published his findings in the book “Black Male Success in Higher Education: How the Mathematical Brotherhood Empowers a Collegiate Community to Thrive” with a foreword by Prof. Duane Cooper and afterword by Prof. Erica N. Walker. You can read the ebook in our library here. Readers of Prof. Jett’s book will hear how Morehouse empowers their students, as well as how they navigate and manage ongoing racial challenges, mathematical spaces, and society. The author also provides recommendations for educators and researchers.

I have made a form where you can submit anonymous feedback, concerns, and complaints.

Mission Statement

This semester the reading group is inspired by the book Rehumanizing Mathematics for Black, Indigenous, and Latinx Students, by Rochelle Gutierrez, Imani Goffney, and Melissa Boston. It is a continuation of the BLM Reading Group for Inclusive Math Teaching in Fall 2023. It is organized by Catherine Cannizzo (based on the 2020 Symplectic Group Action Reading Group) in an effort to learn about racism, in particular anti-Black racism, in academia and the context under which it operates. We will consider our role in maintaining the status quo and how we can be active anti-racist allies. We will put this knowledge into concrete action items to implement in the long and short term. See below for the schedule of readings.

Our Goals

– Study the history of racism.
– Study the prevalence and impact of institutionalized racism and gatekeeping in academia and math.
– Understand how race, as a modality of power, has shaped what is considered to be knowledge and how racism in America is perpetuated by institutions and power structures that go beyond the individual.
– Consider our role in anti-Black racism e.g. via inaction, and how academia sustains white supremacy.
– Research the ways in which we can take action to counteract racism.
– Identify areas for change in research, teaching, and mentorship and come up with tangible short and long term goals.

Structure

I would like to engage with a community in math academia who care and are committed to the cause. The meetings will include self-reflection exercises and group discussions facilitated by conversation prompts. Having a consistent group to do this work with is important and I therefore ask that you attend as regularly as you can.

I will list some resources and reading material for each meeting but I welcome contributions and suggestions by the participants. I strongly suggest that you do the required reading, viewing, and listening.

I plan to wrap up the reading group by checking in on our action items that we developed last semester to improve racial equity in our department and in our personal lives. I hope to build on our community and culture of accountability, and maintain a space where we can check-in with each other’s progress periodically.

Date and Time 

Please RSVP here.

Ground Rules

I ask that everyone abide by the “Agreements for Multicultural Interactions” from the East Bay Meditation Center:

1. Try It On: Be willing to “try on” new ideas, or ways of doing things that might not be what you prefer or are familiar with.
2. Practice Self Focus: Attend to and speak about your own experiences and responses. Do not speak for a whole group or express assumptions about the experience of others.
3. Understand The Difference Between Intent & Impact: Try to understand and acknowledge impact. Denying the impact of something said by focusing on intent is often more destructive than the initial interaction.
4. Practice “Both / And”: When speaking, substitute “and” for “but.” This practice acknowledges and honors multiple realities.
5. Refrain From Blaming Or Shaming Self & Others: Practice giving skillful feedback.
6. Move Up / Move Back: Encourage full participation by all present. Take note of who is speaking and who is not. If you tend to speak often, consider “moving back” and vice versa.
7. Practice Mindful Listening: Try to avoid planning what you’ll say as you listen to others. Be willing to be surprised, to learn something new. Listen with your whole self.
8. Confidentiality: Take home learnings, but don’t identify anyone other than yourself, now or later. If you want to follow up with anyone regarding something they said during a session, ask first and respect their wishes.
9. Right To Pass: You can say “I pass” if you don’t wish to speak.

Schedule of Readings

Here is a GCal you may add to your own calendar. It includes the readings and conversation prompts.

April 5: This week we will have an organizational meeting to transition into a working group on best practices in mentoring, teaching, research, as well as community building activities. Details were announced by faculty email.

March 15: This week we will read Chapter 16: What a Difference a Day Makes and Chapter 17: Outer Space, of Hidden Figures.

• What does the change from NACA to NASA do for the employees of West Computing?
• Why does the President’s Advisory Committee on Science say a space program is in the interest of every American?
• How does the nature of Katherine’s work change as her department shifts from aeronautical to space?

March 8: This week we will read more of Hidden Figures and discuss Chapter 14: Angle of Attack and Chapter 15: Young, Gifted, and Black.

• In what ways did advances in aeronautical research change the methods by which Langley worked?
• How was the fight for social equality affecting education? How would those practices affect Langley recruitment?
• How does the Black press link the desegregation of southern schools and the launch of Sputnik? What do you think is the reason behind doing so?

March 1: This week we will read Chapter 12: Serendipity and Chapter 13: Turbulence, of Hidden Figures.

• How does integration happen at Langley?

February 23: This week we will read Chapter 10: Home by the Sea and Chapter 11: The Area Rule, of Hidden Figures.

• Describe Mary Jackson: What do we learn about her background? How is she similar to Dorothy Vaughan and Katherine Goble? 
• How do the racial problems in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s change the perception of the U.S. abroad? What event prompted Mary to accept an offer to work with Kaz Czarnecki?
• Mathematically Gifted & Black is inspired by Lathisms.org (Latinxs and Hispanics in the Mathematical Sciences) and emboldened by the film Hidden Figures. Each day of February, Black History Month, they feature an interview with a Black mathematician. How are their experiences similar to the mathematicians in Hidden Figures? How do they differ? The webpage is https://mathematicallygiftedandblack.com/honorees/

February 16: This week we will read Chapter 8: Those Who Move Forward and Chapter 9: Breaking Barriers, of Hidden Figures.
• Describe Katherine Goble: where is she from? What is she like? In what ways are she and Dorothy Vaughan similar?
• Who is William Waldron Schieffelin Claytor? How did he influence Katherine?
• What accomplishment makes Doris Cohen noteworthy? How does it transform possibilities for other women?

February 7 & 9: This week we have two exciting events.

• Question prompt from the reading group: How might the experiences of Black mathematicians who don’t attend HBCUs differ from those who do? 

February 2: This week we will read chapters 4-7 in Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly.
Chapter 4: The Double V
Chapter 5: Manifest Destiny
Chapter 6: War Birds
Chapter 7: The Duration

• How does the civil rights movement take shape during this time period?
• Are the women who become “girl computers” held to a higher standard? Or do they hold themselves to one? Why or why not?
• What is the Reynolds number? How was Dorothy able to learn about it? How does the Reynolds number help work at Langley?

Further questions by the group:

• Shetterly has a few moments in this section where she paints a picture of a diverse wartime America alongside systemic segregation and oppression. What do these moments do for you? Did this question or confirm how you viewed history? Would you have liked to see more/less/something different? 
• There is a small series of events where Miriam Mann persistently removes the sign from the cafeteria until it no longer reappears. What does this do (for herself and for others)? What would your reaction have been? What are ways in which you’ve seen others (or yourself) fight back in small, polite, ways? 
• Do you think Roosevelt’s four freedoms (speech, worship, from want, and from fear) are still applicable today? What freedoms would you add or reframe? How can we go about ensuring access to these freedoms? 
• Why do you think Shetterly includes these small windows into Dorothy’s life (as a friend, mother, wife)? What aspects of Dorothy stand out for you? 
• Shetterly brings up how with war, waves of social progress can occur, with pushback occurring during “reconversion.” Can you see parallels with this in other global moments such as the pandemic? Are there smaller, more local versions of this phenomenon? How else do you think change can occur?

January 19: We will read chapters 2 and 3 of Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly. Reading Group Prompts from tinyurl.com/HC-HiddenFigures

Chapter 2: Mobilization
• Describe Dorothy Vaughan: what is she like? What do you learn of her background?
• What kinds of employment opportunities were available to African American women at this time?
• Why is the opportunity for a job at Langley so unique to Dorothy?
• In her application, Dorothy said she could be ready to accept employment at Langley within 48 hours. Why do you think she makes that claim?

Chapter 3: Past Is Prologue
• How did Dorothy handle the balance between her family life and work aspirations?
• What does this job mean for Dorothy in terms of social mobility?
• From what we know so far, in what ways do Dorothy and Katherine’s experiences mirror each other? In what ways are they different?

MLK Day, Jan 15 2024, 9am – 5pm (coffee starts at 8:30am), UC Berkeley

Join math leadership experts Prof. Abbe Herzig, Prof. Aris Winger, and Prof. Emily Moore in a 1-day workshop to facilitate communication, share strategies, support graduate student success, and develop personalized action plans to apply beyond the workshop!

RSVP here (and before Jan 5 if requiring accommodations): http://tinyurl.com/2024UCB-Wkshp

I have made a form where you can submit anonymous feedback, concerns, and complaints.

Mission Statement

This reading group is organized by Catherine Cannizzo (based on the 2020 Symplectic Group Action Reading Group) in an effort to learn about anti-Black racism in academia and the context under which it operates. We will consider our role in maintaining the status quo and how we can be active anti-racist allies. We will put this knowledge into concrete action items to implement in the long and short term. See below for the schedule of readings.

Our Goals

– Study the history of racism.
– Study the prevalence and impact of institutionalized racism and gatekeeping in academia and math.
– Understand how race, as a modality of power, has shaped what is considered to be knowledge and how racism in America is perpetuated by institutions and power structures that go beyond the individual.
– Consider our role in anti-Black racism e.g. via inaction, and how academia sustains white supremacy.
– Research the ways in which we can take action to counteract racism.
– Identify areas for change in research, teaching, and mentorship and come up with tangible short and long term goals.

Structure

I would like to engage with a community in math academia who care and are committed to the cause. The meetings will include self-reflection exercises and group discussions facilitated by conversation prompts. Having a consistent group to do this work with is important and I therefore ask that you attend as regularly as you can.

I will list some resources and reading material for each meeting but I welcome contributions and suggestions by the participants. I strongly suggest that you do the required reading, viewing, and listening.

I plan to wrap up the reading group by writing a commitment to improve racial equity in our department and in our personal lives. I hope to establish a community and culture of accountability and a space where we can check-in with each other’s progress periodically.

Date and Time 

Please RSVP here.

Ground Rules

I ask that everyone abide by the “Agreements for Multicultural Interactions” from the East Bay Meditation Center:

1. Try It On: Be willing to “try on” new ideas, or ways of doing things that might not be what you prefer or are familiar with.
2. Practice Self Focus: Attend to and speak about your own experiences and responses. Do not speak for a whole group or express assumptions about the experience of others.
3. Understand The Difference Between Intent & Impact: Try to understand and acknowledge impact. Denying the impact of something said by focusing on intent is often more destructive than the initial interaction.
4. Practice “Both / And”: When speaking, substitute “and” for “but.” This practice acknowledges and honors multiple realities.
5. Refrain From Blaming Or Shaming Self & Others: Practice giving skillful feedback.
6. Move Up / Move Back: Encourage full participation by all present. Take note of who is speaking and who is not. If you tend to speak often, consider “moving back” and vice versa.
7. Practice Mindful Listening: Try to avoid planning what you’ll say as you listen to others. Be willing to be surprised, to learn something new. Listen with your whole self.
8. Confidentiality: Take home learnings, but don’t identify anyone other than yourself, now or later. If you want to follow up with anyone regarding something they said during a session, ask first and respect their wishes.
9. Right To Pass: You can say “I pass” if you don’t wish to speak.

Schedule of Readings

Here is a GCal you may add to your own calendar. It includes the readings and conversation prompts.

December 1: This week we will read the Prologue and Chapter 1 of Hidden Figures, by Margot Lee Shetterly. 

November 17: This week we will finish Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks, with chapters 11-14.

November 10: This week we will read bell hooks’ Teaching to Transgress Chapter 10 – Building a Teaching Community: A Dialogue

Prompts:
1) Consider the challenges and barriers that can arise when attempting to build a teaching community. What obstacles have you encountered or foresee in creating such communities? How can they be overcome?
2) hooks discusses the idea of communities of resistance. What does this concept mean to you, and how might it apply in the context of education, especially when addressing issues of social justice and transformative pedagogy?

November 3: This week we will attend Techbridge Girl’s webinar The Adultification of Black Girls Workshop by Professor Sarah Ann R. Anderson-Burnett. In addition to webinars, Techbridge Girls events include the Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) conference at UC Berkeley, as well as after-school programming. If you are interested in registering for the workshop or volunteering to be a facilitator, please email to be put in touch.
       “What is Adultification Bias?: Adultification bias is deeply rooted in the historical legacy of racism and the dehumanization of Black girls and women. It has long-reaching, devastating effects. It is deeply intertwined with disproportionate engagement with the legal system, mistreatment in educational spheres, and adverse health outcomes compared to their white peers.
       Dr. Sara Ann R. Anderson-Burnett’s workshop will focus on understanding the role of adultification bias in Black children’s lives by exploring the historical and cultural archetypes that drive the perpetuation of this bias, especially in education.
       About the Speaker: Sarah Ann R. Anderson-Burnett, MD, Ph.D. (she/her) is the Director of Clinical Services and Quality Improvement at Barnard College and Clinical Assistant Professor in Pediatrics at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She is a passionate believer in the empowerment of adolescents and young adults to become transformational world leaders through supporting and advocating for their holistic needs and dignity.”

October 27: This week we will read Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks chapters 8-9.

October 20 – On Black feminist vision: This week we will read

• bell hooks Chapter 7 of Teaching to Transgress (the yellow book) – Holding My Sister’s Hand: Feminist Solidarity
• The clip “Countering Pushout” by Dr. Monique Morris, who wrote Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools

1) What does feminist solidarity look like?
2) What are your takeaways from the clip, in a university setting?

October 13: This week we will discuss historical context by watching the movie I Am Not Your Negro, available for request to the UC Berkeley library or on many streaming services. Trailer here. Blurb: With unprecedented access to James Baldwin’s original work, Raoul Peck completed a documentary film version of the novel Baldwin never finished—a radical narration about race in America that tracks the lives and assassinations of Baldwin’s friends Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Medgar Evers.

Prompts based on those from the film studio pg 8-12:

• What feelings arose for you while watching the film?
• How does the legacy of slavery, segregation, and Jim Crow affect modern-day society?
• The film touches multiple times on the idea that African-Americans are not entitled to claim part of the society that they helped build. At one point Baldwin is quoted “I am not a ward of America. I am not an object of missionary charity. I’m one of the people who built this country.” Consider this statement and evaluate it within the context of the civil rights movement – then and now.
• What role does violence play in American history? In world history? When is violence perceived as acceptable? When is it not?

October 6: We will next read two selections by bell hooks.

• Chapter 11: Language Teaching New Worlds/New Words, Teaching to Transgress
• Chapter 7: How Can We Serve, Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope

Conversation prompts:

• hooks discusses how language can either reinforce oppressive systems or be a tool for liberation. Share an example from your own educational experiences where language was used in a way that either upheld oppressive structures or challenged them. How did it impact your learning? 
• What does hooks mean by “When as teachers we commit ourselves to service, we are able to resist participation in forms of domination that reinforce autocratic rule.”? Why does hooks write that “all caring professions are devalued” in our society?

September 29: We will next read chapters 5-6 of Teaching to Transgress.
Prompts:
Chapter 5 – Theory as Liberatory Practice:

• hooks argues for the importance of theory as a tool for liberation. How do you relate theory and practice, and why is it significant in the classroom?

Chapter 6 – Essentialism and Experience:

• Essentialism is a concept that hooks critiques in this chapter. How does essentialism manifest in educational settings, and why does hooks believe it is detrimental to the learning process?

September 22: We will next read chapters 2-4 of Teaching to Transgress.
Prompts:

• hooks emphasizes the importance of fostering a sense of community and trust within the classroom. How might active learning help build such a community, and how does it contribute to a liberatory educational environment?
• The author discusses the need for multicultural education that acknowledges and celebrates diverse identities and perspectives. How can educators create a curriculum and classroom environment that is inclusive of diverse voices and experiences?
• The concept of openness is mentioned as a way to engage with students from different backgrounds. How can educators practice openness and transparency in their teaching, and what benefits can it bring to the learning process?
• hooks discusses the influence of Paulo Freire on her own teaching philosophy. How does Freire’s work align with or differ from hooks’ ideas about education and pedagogy?

September 15: Reading: Teaching to Transgress, bell hooks. Intro & Chapter 1. Feel free to read beyond Chapter 1, as the next reading will be a few chapters after.
Prompts:

• The author emphasizes the need for an ‘education that is liberatory.’ In what ways can education be a liberating force, and what barriers might exist to achieving this?
• In Chapter 1, hooks discusses the importance of creating a classroom environment where students feel empowered to speak, think critically, and be active participants in their own learning. Have you experienced such a classroom, and how did it impact your learning?
• hooks discusses the importance of ‘self-actualization.’ How does self-actualization relate to education, and how might it be fostered in the classroom?

August 30: Video Resource (23 minutes):  How Structural Racism Works – Prof. Tricia Rose, Director of Brown University’s Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America 

Conversation prompts:

• What emotional and physical reactions did you experience during the video?
• What key points or concepts stood out to you the most?
• How does Prof. Rose address colorblindness?
• What discrepancy does Prof. Rose illuminate on beliefs about when racial equality will be achieved?
• How does Prof. Rose connect structural racism to current barriers & stereotypes?
• What are specific changes and shifts in thinking that Prof. Rose suggests to address structural racism?

Come join us in Evans 1015 as we talk about different opportunities for math graduate students during the summer.

Community Meetings

• Summer Opportunities, Friday February 3, 2023
• Research Resilience, Thursday November 10, 2022
• Ice Cream Social, Wednesday August 24, 2022
• Feedback Forum, Friday April 29, 2022
• Communication Community Meeting, Friday April 1, 2022
• Prelim Community Meeting, Friday February 25, 2022
• Teaching Community Meeting, Friday November 19, 2021