Politics and aesthetics of museum mathematics: the dissensual curriculum of early 21st century mathematics exhibitions

ABSTRACT

Museum-based mathematics exhibitions are increasingly prominent but under-theorized learning environments. In this study, we analyse the curriculum of United States mathematics exhibitions developed in the early 21^st century in terms of their complex suggestions about the nature of mathematics and mathematical sense-making. We apply Rancière’s notions of politics and aesthetics to explore what we describe as dissensus present in the texts, images, and multi-sensory exhibits of several major mathematics exhibitions. Our analysis characterizes this dissensus as a paradoxical mix of alternative and familiar mathematical aesthetics. On the one hand, we identify an alternative aesthetic emphasizing everyday ubiquity, sensuality, and informal sense-making. At the same time, we identify a countervailing emphasis on dominant notions of mathematics as esoteric, immaterial, and formal-symbolic. Museum mathematics efforts sometimes describe themselves as expanding how the public views and defines mathematics. A close examination of the exhibitions in this study reveals a complex picture, in which dominant and alternative forms of mathematics are co-present. The analysis suggests that museum-based mathematics researchers and practitioners view their work as containing political and aesthetic dimensions that can disrupt or reify what society counts as mathematics.

KEYWORDS:

• mathematics
• politics
• aesthetics
• informal
• museum

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported in part by the Math Core project funded by the National Science Foundation through Grant DRL-0840320 and the Informal Mathematics Collaborative project funded by the National Science Foundation through Grant DRL-1323587. All opinions and analysis expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position or policies of the Foundation;NSF [DRL-0840320,DRL-1323587,National Science Foundation];

Notes on contributors

Molly L. Kelton

Molly L. Kelton is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education in Washington State University’s College of Education, in Pullman, WA, USA.

Ricardo Nemirovsky

Ricardo Nemirovsky is a Professor in Manchester Metropolitan University’s Education & Social Research Institute, in Manchester, UK.