Browsing by Subject "Ethnomathematics"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
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    Awakening of geometrical thought in early culture
    (MEP Publications, 2003) Gerdes, Paulus
    What is the origin of mathematics? Where did symbols and terms used by Bronze Age scribes come from? Gerdes finds the answer in human work--the activity of making tools, objects, and utensils--and the subsequent dynamic evolution to abstract concepts. He traces geometrical thinking in early history and also finds it in indigenous peoples-social activities that have survived colonization. In his foreword, Dirk Struik sees Gerdes's work as having wide application in improving school instruction in mathematics. --Publisher's summary.
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    El quipu: escritura andina en las redes informáticas incaicas y coloniales
    (2015-06) Tun, Molly
    In my dissertation I question the conceptions of writing that surfaced during the colonial period in Peru and argue that the quipu operated as a writing system which was central to the Inca civilization but later marginalized through Spanish colonization. This work brings to the forefront the importance of mathematics and counting in the context of conquest and colonization, as well as possible connections between semiotics and power. This research expands colonial studies by presenting new archival sources within an interdisciplinary approach. Such an analysis of the origins of colonial culture has the potential to re-locate Andean thought within the unilateral colonial power structures, thus changing the way in which minority discourse and indigenous agency is recognized and historicized.