(Re)mediating Math Anxieties with The Narrative, the Ephemeral, and the Visual, 1830-1930

Brittany Carlson
English
UC Riverside

My dissertation begins by examining contemporary definitions of math anxiety as a negative affective experience with the subject, then traces those affects back to nineteenth-century mathematical pedagogy. In the nineteenth century, there was a push for the youth to learn mathematics to remedy Britain’s perceived decline in industrial and commercial strength, but there was a shortage of well-trained teachers. The nineteenth century also ushered in a wave of uncertainty and anxiety amongst mathematicians about the validity and applicability of many novel results and philosophical approaches to the field. In this project, I uncover these different math anxieties and explore remediation methods for them, which include the complex interrelations between mathematics, ephemera, visual aids, and narratives. These (re)mediation methods highlight the mathematical discovery process, which demonstrates that math has a rich history and culture worth exploring.