Benoit, GregoryBeaudine, GregoryHammond, K. Elizabeth2024-05-222024-05-222023-10-02G. Benoit, G. Beaudine, K.E. Hammond. 2023. "MEME-INGFUL MATHEMATICS: CRAFTING CRITICAL CONVERSATIONS ABOUT MATHEMATICS THROUGH STUDENT MEME ANALYSIS" https://doi.org/10.51272/pmena.45.2023https://hdl.handle.net/2144/48833Published versionOur view of self is built upon our understanding of the world and its history, much of which is crafted by interactions beyond the classroom, including “the Internet, films, newspapers, television programs, novels, and strip cartoons” (Joseph, 2011, p.1). Through these interactions, society crafts conceptions about those who enjoy the study of mathematics. Hersh and John- Steiner (2011) outline four common myths about mathematics; mathematicians “lack emotional complexity” (p. 2), the study of mathematics “is a solitary pursuit” (p. 4), the great mathematicians are young and male, and that “mathematics is an effective filter for higher education” (p. 6). More generally, our society tends to view those who do well in mathematics as gifted, smart, nerdy, or crazy (Boaler, 2022; Hall & Surrtamm, 2020; Epstein et al., 2010). These same messages about mathematics are replicated throughout social media by way of the creation and distribution of memes - “small cultural units of transmission that flow from person to person by copying or imitation” (Gal et al., 2016, p. 1700). The more popular or relatable the message, the more swiftly it is copied within each online echo chamber or ecosystem (Gleeson et al., 2014). Through their study, Bini et al. (2020) established that mathematical memes elicit ideas about mathematics and create openings for the collective meaning-making of the mathematical idea encoded in the meme.Conference materials2024-01-3110.51272/pmena.45.2023880499