NASGEm is the North American chapter of ISGEm, the International Study Group on Ethnomathematics.

What is ethnomathematics?

The term was coined by Ubiratan D’Ambrosio to describe the mathematical practices of identifiable cultural groups. It is sometimes used specifically for small-scale indigenous societies, but in its broadest sense the “ethno” prefix can refer to any group — national societies, labor communities, religious traditions, professional classes, and so on. Mathematical practices include symbolic systems, spatial designs, practical construction techniques, calculation methods, measurement in time and space, specific ways of reasoning and inferring, and other cognitive and material activities which can be translated to formal mathematical representation. NASGEm strives to increase our understanding of the cultural diversity of mathematical practices, and to apply this knowledge to education and development.