Conference: Math for All

This three-year award provides support for the annual conference "Math For All" in New Orleans. The first of the three events will be held on February 4-6, 2022. The overall goal of this conference is to increase diversity in mathematics and expose mathematicians in the Greater New Orleans area to research and novel teaching practices as well as provide the opportunity for networking and developing mentor-mentee relationships.

The conference strives to make mathematics more accessible to underrepresented groups, ultimately increasing diversity in the field. The conference will have participants representing Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)and smaller universities in the New Orleans area. One of the goals is to expose the participants to a broad mathematical research community.

This aspect of the conference aims to help students transition to research-focused environments, which will increase retention of underrepresented groups in the mathematical fields. The conference will also stimulate discussions among faculty on inclusive pedagogy aimed at advancing students from underrepresented groups. The organizing committee is dedicated to amplifying the voices of underrepresented minorities in mathematics by highlighting the importance of representation, connections, and individual actions towards changing systemic forms of oppression in mathematics.

The conference will include four broadly accessible plenary talks, six contributed research sessions, a diverse career panel, two workshops and a poster session. Through these avenues, the conference is designed to engage undergraduate and graduate students into a community of mathematics and prepare them for future careers in the field. The plenary speakers and panelists come from around the United States, representing multiple ethnic and mathematical backgrounds, giving students visible role models in industry and academia with whom they can identify.

Participants will have the opportunity to present research and attend professional development workshops in a welcoming and inclusive environment. The conference will also support a few satellite events. At each of the satellite institutions, the organizers will set up a space for attendees to gather, watch and discuss the plenary talks.

The PIs will provide the foundation of the Math For All conference to the satellite institutions but also allow them to plan their own activities. These satellite conferences will help engage a broader community and amplify the impact of the conference by sharing the resources of the Math for All conference, in the hopes of reaching mathematicians who would otherwise not be able to attend the in-person conference. The conference website is: http://www.math.tulane.edu/mathforallnola

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.