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Global mathematics histories and futures

Global mathematics histories and futures

Image credit: ANU. Hanna Neumann building from stone circle.
Date & time: Monday, 20 Jul 2026, 9:30am – Friday, 24 Jul 2026, 5pm
Venue: Mathematical Sciences Institute, Hanna Neumann Building 145, Science Road, Canberra ACT 2601

Mathematics that will surprise and delight you!

What can the histories of mathematics from all societies worldwide tell us about mathematics we may need to tackle 21st century global problems? This workshop aims to bring together cross-cultural, historical, and frontier mathematical knowledge.

What are the greatest mathematical challenges for humanity? In 1959 ‘the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics’ was contemplated by Wigner as ‘a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve’, the wonder being that mathematics is so powerful in describing and predicting observed behaviours of the physical and even the biological and social worlds. Sixty-five years later, those worlds are beset by even worse problems that are unprecedented in kind or in scale and global reach. Global climate warming, wildfires, the despairing, seemingly endless, cycles of regional wars that humanity seems locked into, the rise of the far right and authoritarianism, pandemics, the intractable biases of tech, microplastics pollution…

This workshop aims to expand the celebrated effectiveness of mathematics, through

  • a diversity of people in mathematics;
  • a broader cultural diversity of mathematics in mathematics;
  • global histories, evolution and transmission of mathematical knowledge;
  • non-Western and First Nations mathematical knowledges;
  • decolonisation of undergraduate courses in mathematical sciences;
  • unprecedented ethical issues, the potential and risks of AI in mathematics education and research.

Convenor

Scientific/Organising Committee and Co-Convenors

  • Lilia Ferrario (Australian National University)
  • Stephan Tillmann (University of Sydney SMRI)
  • Jared Field (Senior Lecturer, University of Technology Sydney)
  • Jordan Pitt (Associate Dean of Indigenous Strategy and Services and Applied Mathematician, University of Sydney

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