This is the summary of a presentation given at the Joint Mathematics Meetings, January 10-13, 1996, Orlando, Florida.

Through a program in Ethnic Studies, we seek to promote greater understanding of the culture, history, language, and contributions of African Americans and other people of color. Through a program in Mathematics, we seek to promote greater understanding of mathematical reality, with the purpose of encourag- ing pure and applied mathematical pursuits. In my talk I shall propose a synthesis of these two disciplines. To do this, I extend the current defini- tion of Ethnomathematics, the comparative study of mathematics of traditional peoples [A], [NJW]. Also, I shall discuss how and why we create a major from from the above synthesis and the benefits resulting from the implementation of Ethnomathematics at post-secondary institutions.

[A] M. Ascher, Ethnomathematics, a multicultural view of mathematical ideas, Brooks/Cole (Pacific Grove, CA: 1991).

[NJW] D. Nelson, G.G. Joseph, J. Williams, Multicultural Mathematics: Teach- ing Mathematics from a Global Perspective, Oxford U.P. (New York: 1993).

Elinor L. Velasquez, University of California, Berkeley