submitted by sorensj1@augsburg.edu
On Thursday, March 5 at 7 pm, the Department of Mathematics, Data Science, and Computer Science is hosting a screening of the film Counted Out in Science 123. All are welcome to attend.
This 90 minute 2024 film explores the idea that mathematics should be for everyone:
In our current information economy, math is everywhere. The people we date, the news we see, the influence of our votes, the candidates who win elections, the education we have access to, the jobs we get—all of it is underwritten by an invisible layer of math that few of us understand, or even notice.
But whether we know it or not, our numeric literacy—whether we can speak the language of math—is a critical determinant of social and economic power.
Through a mosaic of personal stories, expert interviews, and scenes of math transformation in action, Counted Out shows what’s at risk if we keep the status quo. Do we want an America in which most of us don’t consider ourselves “math people”? Where math proficiency goes down as students grow up? Or do we want a country where everyone can understand the math that undergirds our society—and can help shape it?