History of Mathematics

The founding of the Weimar Republic in Germany at the end of World War One opened the doors of mathematics academia for Jewish people. The rise of the Nazi party in the 1930s closed those doors more tightly than ever before. What happened in math departments in Germany under the Nazi regime? How did the content, teaching, and research of mathematics change? In this talk, we will first dissect the anatomy of mathematics academia and identify key questions about the intersection of mathematics and politics. Next, we will look the history of mathematics under the Third Reich, with an emphasis on the way Nazi politics and culture impacted the anatomy. This important period of history has relevant lessons about how mathematics can be politicized today and in the future.