Modern Mathematical Pasts & Techno-Masculine Futures

In the early twentieth century, modernist approaches to knowledge, including in mathematics, became increasingly detached from physical reality. At the same time, Progressive Era Americans began to understand gender in increasingly physical ways. This talk invites a conversation about how the relationship between abstraction and masculinity in the early twentieth century might help shed light on more recent trends in the “tech bro” cultures of Silicon Valley.

How are we to understand the role of abstraction in AI alongside newfangled assertions of “manhood”? What are we to make of sperm racing and boar hunting among the most powerful funders and visionaries of our technomasculine futures?

Ellen Abrams
https://ihpst.utoronto.ca/people/directories/all-faculty/ellen-abrams
Assistant Professor
Institute for the History & Philosophy of Science & Technology
University of Toronto

About the Speaker:

Ellen Abrams is a historian of science and mathematics, specializing in science and technology studies, critical data studies, and women and gender studies. Her research examines how different forms of mathematical knowledge are created, why they matter and who gets to participate. Her current book project, which focuses on the early-20th century growth of mathematical research in the United States, tells the story of how American mathematics was defined and reassembled through various forms of masculinity. Other ongoing projects relate to the creation of data and data-based knowledges across political and disciplinary borders.

Before joining the University of Toronto, Abrams held research and teaching appointments at McGill University, New York University and the Cornell Tech Digital Life Initiative. She earned her PhD in science and technology studies from Cornell University in 2020.

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This is a talk with audience Q&A presented by the University of Toronto's Centre for Ethics that is free to attend and open to the public. Free refreshments will be provided at the event. The talk will also be streamed online with live chat here.

About the Centre for Ethics (http://ethics.utoronto.ca):

The Centre for Ethics is an interdisciplinary centre aimed at advancing research and teaching in the field of ethics, broadly defined. The Centre seeks to bring together the theoretical and practical knowledge of diverse scholars, students, public servants and social leaders in order to increase understanding of the ethical dimensions of individual, social, and political life.

In pursuit of its interdisciplinary mission, the Centre fosters lines of inquiry such as (1) foundations of ethics, which encompasses the history of ethics and core concepts in the philosophical study of ethics; (2) ethics in action, which relates theory to practice in key domains of social life, including bioethics, business ethics, and ethics in the public sphere; and (3) ethics in translation, which draws upon the rich multiculturalism of the City of Toronto and addresses the ethics of multicultural societies, ethical discourse across religious and cultural boundaries, and the ethics of international society.

The Ethics of A.I. Lab at the Centre For Ethics recently appeared on a list of 10 organizations leading the way in ethical A.I.: https://ocean.sagepub.com/blog/10-organizations-leading-the-way-in-ethical-ai