Learning math from the ancient Maya
by Jennifer Ericson
It’s mid-May and school is out, so 15 college students walking the sunny beaches of Mexico, biking through Maya ruins and climbing pyramids must be on vacation, right? Wrong. They ’re in Dr. Ximena Catepillan’s Math 102 course, also known as Mathematics in Non-European Cultures. These students are learning about math as it was practiced by the ancient Maya civilization.
Math 102 is a general education course designed for students not majoring in math and science. In addition to covering mathematics from the Maya civilization, the course also covers ancient mathematics from Africa, China, Australia, India and Egypt. Millersville has been offering this course on campus each spring since 1997. However, last summer, Catepillan offered a special session of the course that included a week-long trip to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
