For my Cultural Research Project, I chose to learn more about Ruth Gonzalez. Gonzalez is a Hispanic woman whose field of interest is mathematics. She became the first woman to receive a doctorate in mathematics in 1986 from Rice University. Both of her parents were born in Mexico, but Gonzalez was born in the US. Neither of her parents were able to receive very good education, so they are very proud of their daughter’s accomplishments. I differ from this woman because I have a different lifestyle. Both my parents are white and were born in America so they have a higher advantage over the Gonzalez family, who were unable to attend school and therefore did not necessarily see the importance of education. Gonzalez’s amazing achievements were able to open up her parents’ eyes to the significance and beauty of education. The chance of being able to interview this woman seems pretty slim, but if I could find some more information on her and research her a little deeper, I just might be able to find something to be able to reach her.
I did not use any of the resources above. I had no luck finding women by searching using keywords I was interested in. Instead, I Googled what I was interested in finding which was a woman mathematician from a culture other than my own.
I am excited to begin this project and start learning about a really inspirational woman!