How Lisa Simpson Made Math Cool Again and Saved Winnie Cooper’s Career
It’s been a week since the Simpsons movie came out, and although not every LaunchSquadder has seen it, we tend to think a lot about the convergence between pop culture and technology. Some people, like Dr. Sarah Greenwald, a math professor at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, do this for a living.
Let’s face it: math, like a lot of web technologies out there, has a critical engagement problem. People aren’t necessarily so upset about doing math, per se; it’s getting started that’s achingly difficult.
Greenwald has dedicated countless hours, along with Santa Monica College’s Dr. Andrew Nestler, in building curriculum that merges the pop culture of the Simpsons and math. Her site, Simpsons Math, contains over a hundred Simpsons math references - some of which can be critical points of engagement in the high school and college classroom.
It’s been a long, hard road on television for math, tech and science. Prior to the Simpsons, most TV characters (especially cartoons) that were obsessed with any of the above were (mis)cast as uber-nerds with unflatteringly anti-social, Aspberger-like qualities - think Paul from the Wonder Years or Scooby Doo’s Velma.
But Dr. Greenwald is hopeful for the future for the math and tech-obsessed, especially girls.
“I think it’s gotten better - Danica Mckellar [The Wonder Years’ Winnie Cooper] just released a book telling girls that being smart is cool. It seems like recently, in pop culture, there are these representations, that it is fun and cool, and yet there are still the same mad-scientist ‘Professor Frink’ [the ubiquitous Simpsons prof]-type representations that you see in some places.”
McKellar is best know for being one of the few Hollywood actors to have an Erdos number - the math equivalent of a Kevin Bacon number - for her mathematical paper-writing proximity to the prolific Paul Erdos. McKellar’s book, “Math Doesn’t Suck,” made the top-ranked stories on CNN this afternoon. In it, she tells girls that it’s better to be “cute and smart” than “cute and dumb.” Groundbreaking advice, this.
“There is some kind of ‘hip nerd’ now, and if you go back before the Simpsons began, that’s not the case,” Greenwald said. “I wouldn’t say I’d attribute the trend of “hip to be a nerd” to the Simpsons, but I’d say they’ve helped it a bit.”
Greenwald characterizes Lisa Simpson as really relevant to her students.
“I know my students are amused by Lisa - again, she’s kind of that nerdy character at times, and not portrayed as all that popular, but, on the other hand she’s very identifiable to them - they see a bit of themselves in her, and I think it helps them,” Greenwald said.
“Even though she’s not super-popular, she’s friendly, she’s identifiable, she’s likable, and she likes math and science. And it helps to have those kinds of role models.”
If you don’t get your fix of math/culture mashups in the Simpsons Movie or on Greenwald’s Simpsons Math site, you can always head out to Nerdapalooza, the world’s first nerd-rock festival, up in Eureka, 9/22 and 9/23.
Linkage:
Sarah Greenwald’s SimpsonsMath.
Dr. Greenwald, I presume? Meow!
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