Decolonisation in Mathematics

The School of Mathematics is committed to 'decolonising the curriculum', the process of undoing the effects of colonisation and rethinking mathematics that unfairly maintain a European-centred mindset.

Our position

Mathematics can be seen as a 'universal language', as the subject transcends cultural and language barriers. It is commonly believed that, as a subject primarily focused on processes and patterns, mathematics is separate from the history of people and that human biases have little relevance. 

However, our School recognises that the study of mathematics was conceived by people, and so cannot be exempt from the complex histories of those who shaped it. 

The ways in which modern mathematicians, and the mathematicians who came before them, understand the world will have been rooted in cultural mindsets that regarded a Western – or colonial – mindset as the unquestioned authority on mathematical knowledge. But this is not the case, and it is important to acknowledge contributions to the field that have previously been overlooked or deliberately erased.

Decolonising is not about deleting knowledge or histories that have been developed in the West or colonial nations; rather it is to situate the histories and knowledges that do not originate from the West in the context of imperialism, colonialism and power and to consider why these have been marginalised and decentred.

Professor Rowena Arshad Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh

To begin to understand the depth of colonisation in mathematics, the School recommends students and staff consider the biographies of every mathematician mentioned in the theorems and conjectures taught in the curriculum. In doing so, you will find the majority of names will be white men from Europe. 

Throughout history, the contributions to mathematics from cultures that were not white or European has been diminished or ignored completely. Most of the work discussed in mathematical curricula is named only after Europeans when the reality is that mathematics is an ancient subject, with a huge, deep history from all over the world.

Some examples of contributions which have been forgotten are listed below, with evidence in the further reading section.

  • Fibonacci's sequence (i.e. 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, ...) was discovered in Africa long before the Italian wrote it down, in the form of Ghanaian textile cloth and Egyptian temple design. (1)
  • It is long believed calculus was discovered by Leibniz and Newton, however there is evidence of Indians having discovered the subject 300 years earlier in the Kerala School. (2)
  • Fractals are geometric shapes which remain identical on all arbitrarily small scales, no matter how much they are zoomed in. Their discovery is commonly attributed to many European mathematicians, including Leibniz and Fatou. However, fractals have been shown to be a core component of African architecture, many years before they were discovered in Europe. (3)
  • Ramanujuan was a famous Indian mathematician who was from what would typically be considered a 'working class' family, and received no formal training in mathematics. However, he made substantial contributions to mathematics, discovering new theorems and proofs which were highly advanced, and he was compared with the likes of Euler and Jacobi.

The University of Edinburgh has begun the process of broadening the curriculum, seeking to actively include mathematical perspectives and contributions that have previously gone under-recognised within academia, as decolonisation in mathematics is more about recognising all origins of knowledge and ensuring that mathematicians are aware of the cultural and historical contexts of their field.

 The aim is to increase awareness of what effects colonisation has had on the study of mathematics, and how this has impacted curriculum decisions and teaching methods. The School is offering staff resources to encourage discussion around how curriculums can be diversified and teaching can be made more accessible and inclusive, and students are being given the opportunity to learn about diverse mathematicians, details of which can be found in the Action Plan. 

How to Decolonise the STEM Curriculum: A Practical Guide | CSE Equality & Diversity HUB


The University is committed to eliminating institutional, structural and individual racism that allows racial inequalities to perpetuate. We're striving to create a more diverse and inclusive University.

The University adheres to the principles of the Race Equality Charter, a national scheme which aims to improve the representation, progression and success of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) staff and students within higher education.

The Updated Race Equality Charter | Advance HE


Additionally, the School is promoting many initiatives and projects to ensure we are not just passively against racism, but actively antiracist. We are working to understand the history of a mostly white university, and how it contributes to students who feel as if they do not belong. The School of Mathematics aims to listen to the lived experience of people of colour and work to take accountability, so that we can enact real change.


In July 2025, the University published its landmark Review of Race and History – an academically-led examination of our historic links to slavery and racism. It is thought to be one of the most ambitious, wide-ranging and sustained consultations of its kind and is the result of more than four years of dedicated research, community engagement and collaboration.

Review of Race and History

 

As part of the University's Race Review, the Principal commissioned the Research and Engagement Working Group (REWG) to develop an academic report on the University's historical links to the histories of slavery, colonialism and the production of racial science and produce evidence-based recommendations to address structural racism at the University of Edinburgh today:

Decolonised Transformations blog

Decolonised Transformations: Confronting The University of Edinburgh’s History and Legacies of Enslavement and Colonialism | Report by REWG

 


 



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