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Chawne Kimber

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"Chawne" redirects here. For the Chawne dam in Bhandara, India, see Patalganga River.
Chawne Kimber
Born1971 (age 52–53)
Frankfort, Kentucky
NationalityAmerican
TitleDean of the College
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Florida
Doctoral advisorJorge Martinez
Academic work
DisciplineMathematics
InstitutionsWashington and Lee University
Lafayette College
Wesleyan University

Chawne Monique Kimber (/ʃɔːn/ SHAWN;[1] born 1971)[2] is an African-American mathematician and quilter,[3] known for expressing her political activism in her quilts.[4][5] She was a professor at Lafayette College, where she headed the department of mathematics.[6] Kimber is now the Dean of the College at Washington and Lee University.[7]

Education and career

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Kimber, a native of Frankfort, Kentucky,[8] comes from a family of cotton farmers and quilters in Alabama.[5][9] Although she writes that she "always loved math", she began her undergraduate studies at the University of Florida by studying engineering before switching to mathematics because she found it more fulfilling.[10] She earned a master's degree at the University of North Carolina in 1995, as a student of Idris Assani.[11] She returned to the University of Florida for doctoral studies, completing her Ph.D. in 1999. Her dissertation, Prime Ideals in Rings of Continuous Functions, connects abstract algebra with functional analysis and was supervised by Jorge Martinez.[12]

After a term as Van Vleck Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Wesleyan University, she joined Lafayette College as an assistant professor. In mathematics, she is known for incorporating concepts of social justice into her classroom teaching.[10][13] She was a Professor and then head of the Math Department.[6] In 2008, she along with Professor Sharon Jones began the Summer Program to Advance Leadership in STEM at Lafayette.[14] This six-week program where incoming students take college level writing and calculus address along with modules in STEM. Students are those who are identified as leaders from groups typically underrepresented in STEM fields.[15] In 2018, Kimber was one of six recipients of the prestigious Clare Booth Luce Scholarship to attend the HERS (Higher Education Resource Services) Institute.[16] While head of the Math Department, the department "worked to promote an inclusive culture based on the understanding that math is a gateway to many other fields in the sciences, technology and engineering".[17]

In May 2021, Washington and Lee University announced that Kimber would become the school's Dean of the College effective July 1, 2021.[7][18] She is responsible "for 21 departments and 13 interdisciplinary programs. The dean serves as chair of the Committee on Courses and Degrees and belongs to the Faculty Executive Committee. The dean reports to the provost and serves on the Provost's Academic Council as well as the President's Council".[7]

Quilting

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still not (2019) at the Renwick Gallery in 2022

Kimber grew up with her great-grandmother's quilts[9] and her father considered these "quilts his most prized possessions".[19] Kimber began quilting in 2005, soon after completing her application for tenure at Lafayette, and her interest in quilting was renewed in 2007 by the death of her father.[9][19] Her quilts are influenced by her great-grandmother's work which "used the same patchwork style as those associated with Gee's Bend" – Kimber views her work as a "contemporary adaptation" of that style.[19] In 2008 she began creating highly politicized quilts and blogging about them,[9] beginning with a series of quilts inspired by George Carlin's seven dirty words and by racist and sexist graffiti on her college campus.[20][21] Her work has been associated with the "modern Quilting" movement, based on its geometric design and provocative content.[22] Her work includes varied subject matter that raise social issues including the killing of African Americans and sexual assault.[20] As well as quilting, Kimber has also exhibited quilting-inspired works of mathematical origami.[23][24]

Kimber's quilts are frequently included at quilting shows and museum exhibits of quilting. The Paul Mellon Arts Center put up a show of her works in 2018.[9][25] One of her quilts inspired by the death of Eric Garner won first place at QuiltCon West in 2016,[5] and was included with other pieces by Kimber in a show on "Quilts and Human Rights" at the Pick Museum of Anthropology at Northern Illinois University.[26] Her work, still not, was acquired by the Smithsonian American Art Museum as part of the Renwick Gallery's 50th Anniversary Campaign.[27][28] This exhibition highlighted that the piece's fabrics were "sourced from mid-century textiles".[28] The description stated that "Kimber's choice to use vintage cloth and improvisational patterns draws on her memories and family history. Many of her enslaved ancestors in rural Alabama cultivated and ginned cotton. Her great-grandmother, Mamo, and other relatives expressed themselves through quilting. [...] Mamo's story was told through her quilts, and Kimber continues the thread".[28]

Elizabeth Landau, for The Washington Post in 2020, commented that Kimber "tries to keep her math and quilting worlds separate. Some of her quilts deliberately rebel against the patterns and orderly structures that dominate math. They are — like jazz music played with fabrics and stitches — improvisational. But the thread of challenging systemic inequalities runs through both of Kimber's endeavors. [...] Against the backdrop of persistent social injustices, Kimber's quilts are both timely and timeless".[19]

References

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  1. ^ Allen, Aimee (17 January 2017). "The Beautiful Mind of Chawne Kimber". Modern Quilt Guild. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Kimber, Chawne Monique 1971-". WorldCat Identities. Archived from the original on 23 September 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  3. ^ Lamb, Evelyn (11 October 2018). "Math, Quilting and Activism: Mathematician Chawne Kimber shares her favorite theorems and quilts that make a statement". Scientific American. Archived from the original on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  4. ^ Hlohowskyj, Maria (2 February 2017). "The Colorful, Radical Quilts of Chawne Kimber". Women Arts. Archived from the original on 22 April 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Gelt, Jessica (20 February 2016). "These quilts with messages about gun violence and racial injustice issues aim to discomfort". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 7 July 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Chawne Kimber". Lafayette College. Archived from the original on 12 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  7. ^ a b c "Chawne Kimber Named Dean of the College at Washington and Lee University". The Columns (Press release). Washington and Lee University. 5 May 2021. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Artist - Chawne Kimber". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Archived from the original on 7 July 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d e Neitz, Katie (Summer 2018). "Beautiful and Powerful: Prof. Chawne Kimber stitches messaging about censorship, social injustice, and racism into layers of colorful cotton". Lafayette Magazine. Photography by Clay Wegrzynowicz. Lafayette College. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  10. ^ a b Lum, Lydia (2 May 2011). "Scholar Combines Math and Social Justice in the Classroom". Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  11. ^ Williams, Scott W. "Chawne Kimber". Black Women in Mathematics. State University of New York at Buffalo. Archived from the original on 10 January 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  12. ^ Chawne Kimber at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  13. ^ Grose, Ben (28 October 2013). "Adding Diversity to Curricula, Starting in the Classrooms". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  14. ^ "Featuring the summer program to Advance Leadership in STEM @ Lafayette". Lafayette College Center for the Integration of Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship. Lafayette College. 31 October 2019. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  15. ^ "Advancing Leadership and Social Justice". The McDonough Report. Lafayette College. Winter 2010. pp. 6–7. Archived from the original on 30 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  16. ^ "STEM Stars". Lafayette College News. 5 November 2018. Archived from the original on 9 July 2024. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  17. ^ Flaherty, Colleen (19 November 2019). "Mathematician comes out against mandatory diversity statements, while others say they continue to be useful -- with some caveats". Inside Higher Ed. Archived from the original on 19 November 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  18. ^ Brantley, Max (4 June 2021). "Another win for the Lost Cause: Washington and Lee University won't change its name". Arkansas Times. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  19. ^ a b c d Landau, Elizabeth (23 December 2020). "'I can't breathe': How one Black quilter channels social justice into her work". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  20. ^ a b Dampier, Cindy (4 April 2017). "Uniting politically divided quilters, stitch by stitch". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 30 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  21. ^ May, Rachel (2014). "Chawne Kimber: How Words Matter". Quilting with a Modern Slant: People, Patterns, and Techniques Inspiring the Modern Quilt Community. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing. pp. 82–83. ISBN 9781612120638. OCLC 854956985 – via Google Books.
  22. ^ Cox, Meg (9 May 2013). "'Modern Quilters' Stress Simplicity, Edgy Subjects: Quilting's new-wave movement focuses on provocative material; fury at the 'F' word". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  23. ^ "Chawne Kimber and Ethan Berkove: Weaves and Whorls". Mathematical Art Galleries: 2014 Joint Mathematics Meetings, The Bridges Organization. 2014. Archived from the original on 5 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  24. ^ Bruce, Kathy; Okaya, Michiko (2013). "Crease, Fold, and Bend" (PDF). Lafayette Art Galleries. p. 18. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 July 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  25. ^ Bocek, Sasha (26 January 2018). "Not Your Grandmother's Quilt: Chawne Kimber's Radical Knits". The Choate News. Archived from the original on 5 October 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  26. ^ "Pick Museum unveils quilt exhibit with a visit from Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr". NIU Today, Northern Illinois University. 25 September 2017. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  27. ^ Savig, Mary; Atkinson, Nora; Montiel, Anya (2022). This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World. Washington, DC: Smithsonian American Art Museum. pp. 228–238. ISBN 9781913875268. OCLC 1291595008.
  28. ^ a b c "Artworks: still not - Chawne Kimber [2019]". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Archived from the original on 7 July 2024. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
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