Essay #118: Vincent Bouchard & Asia Matthews, ‘An Anarchist Approach to the Undergraduate Mathematics Curriculum’

In this essay, Vincent Bouchard and Asia Matthews discuss how contemporary anarchism can be used as a framework to rethink how we teach mathematics at the university level. At its core, anarchism aims at aligning thoughts and actions, and we argue that an anarchist viewpoint on undergraduate mathematics may offer a path toward a more equitable, horizontal and human-centred approach. This is not an essay about math: this is about how it is taught, and why it matters!

Vincent Bouchard is Professor in the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at the University of Alberta (personal website: https://sites.ualberta.ca/~vbouchar/). Vincent's publication list is freely available on arXiv.org at https://arxiv.org/a/bouchard_v_1.html .

Asia Matthews is a professor of mathematics and interdisciplinary educator. She worked at Quest University Canada until recently, and is now a free agent. You can find her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/asiamatthews/. Asia and Vincent's recent publication, "An Anarchist Approach to the Undergraduate Mathematics Curriculum", on which this essay is based, was published in the Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education (2025) and is freely available on arXiv at https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.18811.

Anarchist Essays is brought to you by Loughborough University's Anarchism Research Group and the journal Anarchist Studies. Follow us on Bluesky @anarchismresgroup.bsky.social

Our music comes from Them'uns (featuring Yous'uns).

Artwork by Sam G.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(100)

Essay #123: Michael Grooff, ‘Sympathy as the Engine of Mutual Aid’

In this essay, Michael Grooff argues for a bipartite reading of Kropotkin’s account of sympathy, the mechanism behind the evolutionary mutual aid principle. Incorporating both simulation as well as pe...

8 Jun 14min

Essay #122: Alejandro Forero Cuéllar, ‘Anarchism and the Abolition of the Criminal Justice System’

In this essay, Alejandro Forero examines how bourgeois criminology weaponized positivist science to pathologize dissent, pseudoscientifically labeling anarchists as "born criminals" to justify state r...

25 Mai 15min

Essay #121: Ruby Tuke, ‘The Embryonic Abolitionist Ideas of William Godwin’

In this essay, Ruby Tuke argues that the political philosopher, author and proto-anarchist William Godwin’s critique of punishment, alongside his commitment to a form of community-rooted justice guide...

11 Mai 18min

Essay #120: David Gordon Scott & Emma Bell, ‘Envisioning Abolition - Back to Black?’

This essay introduces Envisioning Abolition, arguing that modern penal abolitionism has deep roots in nineteenth and early twentieth-century anarchist and libertarian socialist thought that challenged...

27 Apr 20min

Essay #119: Roberta Cesana, ‘Writing as Self-Construction: Leda Rafanelli’s Life in Anarchism, Typography and Publishing’

In this essay, Roberta Cesana examines the relationship between anarchism and print culture through the figure of Leda Rafanelli (1880–1971). It shows how writing, printing, and publishing functioned ...

13 Apr 15min

Essay #117: Eleanor Strangways, ‘Anarchism, Anti-imperialism, and the British Empire’

In this essay, Eleanor Strangways explores the collaborations between anarchists and anti-imperialists in Britain during the Second World War. The essay begins by examining publications on imperialism...

16 Mar 19min

Essay #116: Sean Ketteringham, ‘Anarchist anti-imperialism, modernist domesticity: Henri Gaudier-Brzeska’s Maquette for a Large Basin’

In this essay, Sean Ketteringham examines the anarchist and anti-imperial politics which informed the work of Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (1891-1915), the French modernist sculptor who was based in London f...

2 Mar 25min