Introductory Mathematics Seminar: Designing a Culturally-Responsive Precalculus Curriculum Grounded in Tucson as Place and Identity

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March 23, 2023 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Science Center 530
Speaker:

Guadalupe Lozano - University of Arizona


The University of Arizona is one of 16 Carnegie R1 Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and one of four R1, HSIs with membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU). We are also a land-grant university located in the US-Mexico borderland, a cradle of wisdom, identities, cultures, and people still only tenuosly centered in our campus’ vast curricular offerings. Framed by this institutional backdrop of commitment to excellent teaching, research, and servingness—the intentional enhancement of marginalized identities throughout the academic experience—this presentation discusses aims and design of a novel asset-based, culturally-responsive precalculus curriculum centering Tucson and the Southwestern US as place and identity. I will introduce course design principles and share specific precalculus content examples, aiming to illustrate how curricular rigor is not only uncompromised but actually enhanced through scenarios that relate to students’ lived experiences and make the mathematics come authentically alive within place-based, affirming contexts. The talk aims to offer a proof-of-concept for how might one go about creating other culturally-centering STEM curricula.