The end of the conference: the continuity of the inquiry

I have been spending the last few days asking people questions around how you experience creating art/mathematical art, how does doing art/mathematical art change the way you look at the world and if art could help students reconnect with being curious and asking questions to satisfy their own curiosity. I think that answering the question myself could be a good way to end this conference.

How did I feel when I created my poem? How did I live the experience?

I was happy to have to dedicate time to write a mathematical poem for the conference. I have always enjoyed poetry, and I used to write poems more in the past years. Although I knew I would dread the moment I would have to share my poem, because I had never really shared any of my poems before.

I decided to create a poem that was meaningful to me and my students. I like mathematical arts because it allows me to be whole when doing mathematics and doing it with meaning. The process of writing it went smoothly and I can say that I reached a state of flow when I would not see the time fly. Unlike many presenters this week, I am not obsessed with mathematical poems, but that might be because my obsession is about teaching mathematics. I think that it is normal that not everyone develops an obsession with mathematical art.

What struck me the most is how proud I was for pushing myself to do something completely out of my comfort zone. It was already challenging to send my poem to Sarah, reading it in front of an audience was terrifying! But I did it, and now I feel more resilient; I feel like I am stronger in a way that I know I can overcome challenges and difficulties.

This sense of resilience, confidence, and strength is exactly what my students would benefit from. I feel like art could give them an ‘easier’ (with less pressure) entryway to challenge themselves, notice that they can overcome difficulties, and hopefully give them the confidence to start tackling problems more easily.

How does my interest in mathematics and arts change the way I see the world?

The dualistic worldview defines ‘pure’ and ‘true’ knowledge as knowledge only coming from the realm of thoughts. It thus separates the mind from the rest of what makes us human beings (body, heart, and soul). I never enjoyed mathematics that seemed meaningless and did not seem beautiful or mystical to me. I think that the dualistic worldview hegemonic in mathematics is narrowing ones’ perspective of the world. I like having interests in both domains, because I can build on their strengths. I know I have the critical and mathematical knowledge required to ask questions when something seems wrong. And I also know I can use different mediums of communication (arts) to convey my message. I feel that having an interest in the arts makes me more inclined to appreciate the beauty of mathematics. And being so good at finding patterns makes me more inclined to appreciate how an artist decides to convey a message. Finally, I think that having interest in arts makes me more empathic toward people, and I can use that empathy more easily within mathematics. 

Arts bring communities together: a narrative

    While we wait in the particularly warm room for the fashion show to begin, my mind drifts to wonder about what a fashion show looks like and if I will enjoy it. I have never been to a fashion show before, but my partner, an artist and physical health enthusiast, wanted to attend. Finally, the music starts and the first model enters. The model starts by taking some timid steps on the runway and stops for a pose. But it seems that, slowly but surely, the model is gaining confidence and is taking the reins of the runway. By the end of their walk, their confidence unbinds and releases through the room; they are beautiful. It reminded me of our play practice yesterday, and the talk of Giana Ryan (2026) who brought communities of mathematicians, artists, and mathematician-artists together with mathematical stitching. The fashion show was amazing, I enjoyed every second, especially seeing people being proud of their work and the confidence the models had. This whole conference is a demonstration of bringing people together, becoming a community.

    Su (2020) talked about mathematics for human flourishing, but what if we move away from an anthropocentric view and look at mathematics for flourishing of all. Moving away from an anthropocentric perspective in school is necessary if we want our students to become part of the caretaker of our home, the planet Earth (UNESCO, 2020). It seems that arts have the power to create a sense of community, thus using arts to express mathematical ideas or creating mathematical arts becomes mathematics for flourishing. And it does not have to end with human communities, it can help develop a sense of community between humans and non-humans, relationships that most of us lost long ago and that we desperately need to rebuild. A sense of community and belonging is extremely important for humans to thrive (Kimmerer, 2024). From what I have witnessed in the conference, this sense of belonging provides people with a healthy amount of confidence, an amount that makes you believe you can push the limits and be successful.

References

Kimmerer, R. W. (2024, Nov. 21). Practical reverence [Interview]. Emergence. https://emergencemagazine.org/conversation/practical-reverence

Ryan, G. (2026). Threaded theorems: hand embroidery as mathematics outreach [Conference presentation]. Bridges 2026, Galway, Ireland.

Su, F. E. (2020). Mathematics for human flourishing. Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvt1sgss

UNESCO. (2020). Learning to become with the world: Education for future survival. Common Worlds Research Collective. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000374032

Mathematics is a language: a narrative

After a short time struggling to find the coffee place where we are supposed to meet our group for rehearsal, we get started on the reading. I smile; the joke in the play made me laugh. A little while later, I hear someone chuckle softly. Little by little, the chuckles become louder, to convert themselves into real laughter. Throughout this short 40 minutes, we moved from complete strangers to a community. I find it fascinating that reading the mathematical play allowed us to develop trust in such a short time. But this post is not about this topic, it might come back later.


This post is about the language of mathematics. I find it quite funny when 1 says: “Often mistaken for I, preserving everyone’s identity when used to multiply (Petsinis, 2026).” But would my partner find it funny too? Would he ‘get the joke’? During this conference, there were many instances where two people were talking to each other and understanding each other, but I had no clue of what was happening.


Sfard (2007) mentions that mathematics is a type of discourse and that it is hard to learn new concepts (names) without anchoring them in something familiar. Thus, teaching mathematics should aim to connect the new knowledge to something familiar (Sfard, 2007) in a way that students develop an operational understanding of concepts (Sfard, 1991). I believe that art could be the link between making mathematics visible in a way that reaches more students in the classroom. Afterall, Aylieann MacDonald (2026) mentioned that mathematics can be seen under different perspectives with a beautiful image. Today, when Dave Whyte was showing his animation of points, I could not help but see how these points could become a function represented on a graph for my students. How asking a point to obey a ‘rule’ to follow a path that would end up satisfying them with the shape they desire could be what they are missing to develop an operational understanding of the different representations of functions. Because I spend most of my time teaching function and I understand the language of function, but what if my students do not have a familiar idea to connect function to? A visualisation created by a deep and engaging creative process can definitely help them anchor it to a more familiar concept than the Cartesian plane.



References

MacDonald, A. (2026, August 5th). It’s about time [Conference presentation]. Bridges 2026, Galway, Ireland.

Petsinis, T. (2026). Euler’s vision. Proceedings of Bridges 2026: Mathematics and the Arts. https://archive.bridgesmathart.org/2026/bridges2026_Supplement_111.pdf

Sfard, A. (1991). On the dual nature of mathematical conceptions: Reflections on processes and objects as different sides of the same coin. Educational studies in mathematics, 22(1), 1-36

Sfard, A. (2007). When the rules of discourse change, but nobody tells you: Making sense of mathematics learning from a commognitive standpoint. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 16(4), 565-613

The potential of mathematical art: a narrative

The applause ends. The chair asks if there are questions in the room. We hear a quiet “I wonder if…”. Then, it’s followed by another “have you tried to flatten your sculpture in a 2D dimension?, “I wonder if there is always the same length of the path in different paths…”, “and I wonder if there is always the same number of double edges!” The room is not quiet at all anymore. People start debating and sharing their ideas. The talk is over. It is time to go, but I am stuck. On my left side, people are counting the number of double edges present on the sculpture in German. On my right side, people are deeply engaged in a discussion around the symmetry of the sculpture in English. I, myself, is thinking in French about how I could bring those sculptures in my classroom. This is the potential of mathematical art.

My colleague is joining me on this trip and today told me: “I like that you know it’s a room full of mathematicians when they keep asking questions starting with I wonder if…and they just keep circling their ideas to each other.” She predicted the scene I would witness a couple of hours later.

The potential of mathematical art is its ability to bring people all around the world to wonder about mathematics, its beauty, and its potential; what other things are there that we cannot see just yet?

Tom Verhoeff and I talked about curiosity and its importance in mathematics. He told me: “We need to learn how to ask questions, but we need to learn that some questions are more relevant than others to pursue.” Mathematical arts have the potential to bring people to ask questions about what else is out there. But it also has the potential of bringing people in a state of flow so intense they can dedicate their life to answering a question. In the talks I have seen today, all had one thing in common: a desire to push limits. We can see it when Ayliann says that she can spend hours drawing her work. We can see it in the work of Koos Verhoeff, Anton Bakker, and Tom Verhoeff trying to solve a puzzle for 10 years, we can see it in Rinus Roelofs looking at so many polyhedra and their rotations, etc.

In brief, mathematical art can make people curious about mathematical ideas and make them want to challenge themselves into solving hard problems.

The Power of a Round Dance

 I have been living and working with Naskapi and Innu people for 4 years. I remember how amazed I was at first by the ethnomathematical gems I would find while partaking in my hosts’ cultural activities or in my daily activities of living in a remote community. I was amazed because I realized that there was so much more to mathematics than what I learned in school and what I was trained to teach. Today, I am a changed mathematician as a result of these gems I have experienced during my time in Kawawachikamach.

This poem is inspired by mathematics I found in Naskapi culture, and my integration within the community. The number of syllables in each line follows the rhythm of a round dance song we usually dance to.

One, two, three, four,

People mobilize to the beat.

All become points,

The beat―a centrifugal force.

 




One, two, three, four,

The curve transforms into an arc,

More points anchor,

The arc grows into a circle.



One, two, three, four,

They are inviting me.

Can I do this?

I’m scared, but the rhythm flows.



Paaikw, niisu, nistu, naaw,

We orbit together―

A flawed circle.

Where, we all play a role.



Paaikw, niisu, nistu, naaw, 

One, two, three, four, 

Aastim niimutaw:

You come, we dance, and we stand strong.



Let beat move you.



This is the power of a round dance.



Note: Paaikw, niisu, nistu, naaw, and Aastim niimutaw are in Naskapi, an Indigenous North American language. The English translations appear in the lines below the Naskapi expressions in stanza 5. The poem’s lines syllable count follows the rhythm of the round dance mentioned in it.

Week 10 Activity

I did not have ropes at home, so I had to be creative with the material this week. This is my fishing net. I would have liked to try out different natural fibers we have in our environment, but for now, there is still too much snow.

I think I would enjoy making the whole fish net because I find working with my hands to create is a soothing activity after a long day teaching. Just being in the present moment and following a pattern impede the million thoughts I would normally have about teaching. This shows that bringing the arts/embodiment in the classroom offers more than a great learning experience, but can also be beneficial for mental health.

As for the mathematics connections, I could see using this for topics like area/perimeter, shapes, similar/equivalent figures, patterns and potentially algebraic patterns. I would love to partner with one of my colleagues in elementary to build some fishing net because of the mathematics connection we could make and because many of our students learn to make them during their childhood. Almost all of our students fish, so we could even ask students to try them out and come back with ideas on how they could improve their nets. An activity like this is aligned with the First Peoples’ Principles of Learning and reflects how traditional knowledge is built in the community.

Teaching mathematics and its relation to consumerism

In the excerpt from Kallis (2014), the author reflects on how North American cities are built for being a consumer. The author argues that we should take a step back and reflect on where the things we buy come from and that we should reflect on our relationship with consumerism.

“As our newer North American cities and towns are designed for the automobile, so too they are designed for the human being and consumer (Kallis, 2014, pp.20).

When I read this sentence, I started wondering if Schefferville, a remote town, is also designed for the human being a consumer. In the town, we have very few stores: a grocery store, a depanneur, two restaurants, and a hardware store. On the surface, it looks like the town is the exception to the author’s argument. Although, now that Internet reaches every house in the town, most of us partake in online shopping. I remember when Canada post went on strike (the only post service that reaches us), we were struggling with not being able to buy anything. Thus, yes, even remote areas without many stores are impacted by the need of being a consumer.

“[S]ometimes the options are limited and funds are scarce (Kallis, 2014, pp.20).”

This statement resonated with me because I struggled with the lack of more ecological options when I first arrived in Schefferville. Here, our grocery store is small and does not have that many product options. We do not have variety or choices between different products. For example, I cannot buy dried beans and have to rely on canned beans. Also, most of the fruits and veggies come wrapped in individual packaging to keep them fresher (since their journey is long).

It is a shame that it is difficult to make more ecological decisions in our town knowing that Naskapi and Innu used to live with a balanced and healthy relationship with the Earth. Nowadays, they cannot even hunt caribou often enough to not have to buy meat at the grocery store. And because they do not have access to hunting, very few are able to skin the caribou and collect the skin to create a piece of clothing. It makes me wonder what and how they taught their youth to pass the values of interrelatedness with the Earth. It makes me think of Gatarek’s et al. (2025) argument for the need of a STEM curriculum that is less centered on the human and challenges the conception that the human is superior. If we had a curriculum that includes more elements to foster respect for living things and looks into where the things we buy are coming from, we might be able to teach our youth to become more than consumers.

“Once we can begin to visualize this reality, we need to put the mandates in place to make sure to support the changes we want to make (Kallis, 2014, pp.21).”

When I read that sentence, I immediately thought about education being the backbone of the support for the changes we want to make. In What is education for?, Orr (2010) mentions the need for reshaping our education system to make sure students understand whole systems, can make clever decisions about long range, and that knowledge comes with the responsibility of making sure it is well used. I believe that such an education system could help our society to move away from consumerism by giving the tools to individuals to make choices for a better future.

How would this look like in a classroom?

First, a simple step we could take is to spend more time outside building relationships with the place around us. After all, Leopold mentions beautifully that “we can be ethical only in relation to something we can see, feel, understand, love, or otherwise have faith in (2001, pp.179)”. Another simple step could be to bring more social and environmental justice activities in the classroom to foster students’ empathy, critical thinking, and a sense of agency. Finally, teaching students how to build different objects themselves could share a strong message that we might not need to buy something new because there is a way to make it ourselves. They might even be surprised about how fun or how easy creating can be!

Questions:
What do you think we can do in the classroom to reduce our dependance on consumerism?
What object(s) would you like to try building in the classroom with your students?


References

Gatarek, B., Langont, S & Martinovic, D. (2025). Humanizing STEM: Integrating Humane Education and Biocentric Values. [Conference presentation]. MACAS, New Brunswick, Canada.

Kallis. S. (2014). Common threads: weaving community through collaborative ecoart. New Society Publisher.

Leopold, A. (2001). Sand county almanac: With essays on conservation. Oxford University PressOrr, D. W. (2010). Hope Is an Imperative: The Essential David Orr. Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-017-0