Research Catalog

Title

Claudia Zaslavsky papers, 1969-1981.

Author

Zaslavsky, Claudia.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Zaslavsky, Claudia.

Description

.8 lin. ft.

Summary

Typescripts and research material, including notes, correspondence and annotated printed matter, pertaining to Zaslavsky's book AFRICA COUNTS: NUMBER AND PATTERN IN AFRICAN CULTURE (Boston, Mass.: Prindle, Weber & Schmidt, 1973). Also, printed matter, some annotated, and the reprint of an article by Zaslavsky entitled "Mathematics of the Yoruba People and of their Neighbors in Southern Nigeria," published in THE TWO YEARS COLLEGE MATHEMATICS JOURNAL, 1970, as well as other articles and reviews by Zaslavsky dealing with African mathematics. A subject index at the beginning of the collection lists by authors the various sources used in the writing of AFRICA COUNTS. Included are a bibliography, reference and biographical notes, captions, and illustrations.

Subjects

• Yoruba (African people) > Nigeria
• Ethnomathematics > Nigeria
• Zaslavsky, Claudia
• Ethnomathematics > Study and teaching
• Ethnomathematics > Africa, Sub-Saharan
• Mathematics teachers

Source (note)

• Zaslavsky, Claudia

Biography (note)

• Claudia Zaslavsky (born Cohen) was born in New York City in 1917. She studied mathematics at Hunter College and statistics at the University of Michigan. Her interest in mathematics in African culture developed when she was a teacher at Woodlands High School in Hartsdale, New York, and sought materials that would encourage her African American students to regard mathematics as part of their cultural heritage. She found that little of what was known about this topic was available in accessible sources. Thus began a years-long project of assembling, organizing, and interpreting a vast amount of little-known material on expressions of mathematics in diverse African cultures. She conducted field work in East Africa and Nigeria. In 1973, she published her major work, "Africa Counts: Number and Pattern in African Culture", which remains the classic reference on this topic and has been translated into French and Hungarian. After publication of this work, Zaslavsky continued to publish articles in professional journals on African mathematics, multicultural mathematics, and mathematics education. She also wrote three children's books (including "Count on Your Fingers", "African Style", and "Zero: Is It Something? Is It Nothing?") and four resource books for teachers and parents (including "Math Games and Activities from Around the World"). She also wrote books for adults: "Fear of Math: How to Get over It", "Get on With Your Life", and "Preparing Young Children for Math: A Book of Games". Zaslavsky's efforts found a home in the field of ethnomathematics, the study of the ways in which mathematical concepts are expressed and used in the everyday life of diverse cultures. She was a mentor to many younger scholars and activists in this field. As such, she always kept foremost the importance of recognizing the mathematical accomplishments of groups who are underrepresented in the world of mathematics, including women and people of diverse cultures. She was also a lifelong activist in movements for civil rights, peace, and social justice. She passed away in 2006.

Processing Action (note)

• Surveyed
• Accessioned
• Cataloging updated

Call Number

Sc MG 231

OCLC

NYPW89-A243

Author

Zaslavsky, Claudia.

Title

Claudia Zaslavsky papers, 1969-1981.

Biography

Claudia Zaslavsky (born Cohen) was born in New York City in 1917. She studied mathematics at Hunter College and statistics at the University of Michigan. Her interest in mathematics in African culture developed when she was a teacher at Woodlands High School in Hartsdale, New York, and sought materials that would encourage her African American students to regard mathematics as part of their cultural heritage. She found that little of what was known about this topic was available in accessible sources. Thus began a years-long project of assembling, organizing, and interpreting a vast amount of little-known material on expressions of mathematics in diverse African cultures. She conducted field work in East Africa and Nigeria. In 1973, she published her major work, "Africa Counts: Number and Pattern in African Culture", which remains the classic reference on this topic and has been translated into French and Hungarian. After publication of this work, Zaslavsky continued to publish articles in professional journals on African mathematics, multicultural mathematics, and mathematics education. She also wrote three children's books (including "Count on Your Fingers", "African Style", and "Zero: Is It Something? Is It Nothing?") and four resource books for teachers and parents (including "Math Games and Activities from Around the World"). She also wrote books for adults: "Fear of Math: How to Get over It", "Get on With Your Life", and "Preparing Young Children for Math: A Book of Games". Zaslavsky's efforts found a home in the field of ethnomathematics, the study of the ways in which mathematical concepts are expressed and used in the everyday life of diverse cultures. She was a mentor to many younger scholars and activists in this field. As such, she always kept foremost the importance of recognizing the mathematical accomplishments of groups who are underrepresented in the world of mathematics, including women and people of diverse cultures. She was also a lifelong activist in movements for civil rights, peace, and social justice. She passed away in 2006.

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Finding Aid

Added Author

Zaslavsky, Claudia.

Zaslavsky, Claudia. Africa counts: numbers and pattern in African culture.

Zaslavsky, Claudia. Mathematics of the Yoruba people and of their neighbors in southern Nigeria.

Research Call Number

Sc MG 231