Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to share a call for manuscripts for a 2028 special issue of Investigations in Mathematics Learning:
Humanizing Mathematical Modeling: Culture, Identity, and Civic Transformation
Guest edited by Eva Thanheiser (Portland State University) and Daniel C. Orey (Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto), this special issue invites manuscripts that examine mathematical modeling as a cultural, relational, civic, and humanizing practice.
We welcome empirical, theoretical, methodological, design-based, participatory, and conceptual manuscripts that move beyond treating modeling solely as a technical competency and instead explore how modeling can support rigorous mathematics while attending to belonging, recognition, community knowledge, ethical reasoning, culture, identity, power, and public consequence.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
- Socio-critical, decolonial, or humanizing perspectives on mathematical modeling
- Ethnomodeling and cultural or community-based mathematical knowledge
- Belonging, recognition, identity, participation, and positioning in modeling activity
- Data, representation, visualization, omission, bias, and power in modeling
- Modeling for civic engagement, public reasoning, social justice, or community action
- Teacher education and professional learning for equitable and culturally grounded modeling
- Modeling in multilingual, transnational, cross-cultural, or community-based contexts
- Connections among modeling, data science education, critical statistical literacy, and community-engaged mathematics
Extended abstracts are due October 1, 2026. Abstracts should be submitted as PDFs to IMLHumanizingModeling@
Extended abstracts are limited to five double-spaced pages, including references, and should follow APA 7 guidelines. Guest editors will provide feedback and decisions on extended abstracts by November 1, 2026. Invited full manuscripts will be due January 2, 2027.
Please see the attached call for full details, including the timeline, submission guidelines, and description of the special issue.
We would be grateful if you would share this call with colleagues, graduate students, research groups, and professional networks whose work connects to mathematical modeling, humanizing mathematics, ethnomodeling, data science education, civic reasoning, or justice-oriented mathematics education.
Warmly,
Eva Thanheiser
Portland State University
Daniel C. Orey
Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto
Humanizing Mathematical Modeling: CULTURE, IDENTITY AND CIVIC TRANSFORMATION.
Modeling is more than mathematics. It is how we understand our world, honor our knowledge, shape a just and inclusive future. EDITED BY Eva Thanheiser - Portland State University Daniel Clark Orey - Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto INVESTIGATIONS IN MATHEMATICS LEARNING | A SPECIAL ISSUE
Investigations in Mathematics Learning Special Issue: Call for Manuscripts Humanizing Mathematical Modeling: Culture, Identity, and Civic Transformation Guest Editorial Team: Drs. Eva Thanheiser (Portland State University) and Daniel C. Orey (Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto) Mathematical modeling is often framed as a neutral, technical activity centered on representing real-world situations, making assumptions, generating solutions, and validating results. Yet scholarship in socio-critical modeling, ethnomodeling, and humanizing mathematics shows that modeling is also shaped by culture, identity, participation, values, and power. Decisions about what counts as evidence, which assumptions are foregrounded, whose knowledge is recognized, and how results are communicated all shape what modeling becomes in classrooms, communities, and public life. This special issue of Investigations in Mathematics Learning (IML) invites empirical, theoretical, methodological, design-based, participatory, and conceptual manuscripts that examine mathematical modeling as a cultural, relational, and civic practice. We seek scholarly contributions that move beyond treating modeling solely as a technical competency and instead explore how modeling can support rigorous mathematics while also attending to belonging, recognition, community knowledge, ethical reasoning, and public consequence. We welcome manuscripts addressing topics such as:
- socio-critical, decolonial, or humanizing perspectives on mathematical modeling
- ethnomodeling and cultural or community-based mathematical knowledge
- belonging, recognition, identity, participation, and positioning in the mathematical modeling activity
- data, representation, visualization, omission, bias, and power in modeling
- modeling for civic engagement, public reasoning, social justice, or community action
- teacher education and professional learning for equitable and culturally grounded modeling
- modeling in multilingual, transnational, cross-cultural, or community-based contexts
- methodological approaches for studying relational, cultural, ethical, or civic dimensions of modeling
- connections among modeling, data science education, critical statistical literacy, and community-engaged mathematics.
We are especially interested in scholarly manuscripts examining how modeling is designed and enacted in K-12 classrooms, teacher education, community-based settings, and cross-cultural contexts. Submissions may use qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, design-based, participatory, conceptual, or theoretical approaches. Across these approaches, we seek work that advances a broader vision of modeling as simultaneously technical, cultural, relational, and civic. Submission Instructions: The submission deadline for extended abstracts is October 1, 2026. Authors should submit extended abstracts as PDFs to the guest editorial team at IMLHumanizingModeling@gmail.com with the subject line “IML Extended Abstract.” If you have questions about the topics or submission process, please email the editorial team. Each extended abstract is limited to five (5) double-spaced pages, including references. References may be single-spaced. Extended abstracts should be written in 12-point Times New Roman font and must follow APA 7 guidelines. Extended abstracts should include:
- A brief description of the problem, topic, or phenomenon under investigation
- Clearly stated research questions, guiding questions, or theoretical/design aim(s)
- An explicit discussion of how the manuscript conceptualizes mathematical modeling as cultural, relational, civic, socio-critical, ethnomodelling-oriented, and/or humanizing
- A description of context, methods, data sources, findings/results, and if applicable, implications
- A statement of the manuscript’s anticipated contribution to the special issue and to mathematics education research and/or practice. Guest editors will provide feedback on extended abstracts by November 1, 2026.
Authors whose abstracts are invited forward will be asked to submit full manuscripts by January 2, 2027. All full manuscripts will undergo the standard double-blind peer review process for IML. An invitation to submit a full manuscript does not guarantee publication. Full manuscripts for this special issue may not exceed 35 double-spaced pages, including text, abstract, references, tables, figures, and appendices. Full manuscripts should be written in 12- point font with one-inch margins and must follow APA 7 guidelines. References may be singlespaced; however, all other text should be double-spaced. Tables and figures may be placed on individual pages or embedded within the text, but not both. It is an IML requirement that published manuscripts have at least one author who is a current member of the Research Council on Mathematics Learning at the time the manuscript is accepted.
Timeline:
- Milestone Date Call released July 1, 2026
- Extended abstracts due October 1, 2026
- Editor feedback and decisions on abstracts November 1, 2026
- Full manuscripts due January 2, 2027
- Manuscript reviews and decisions returned to authors March 30, 2027
- Accepted manuscript revisions due June 1, 2027
- Second round of manuscript reviews returned to authors August 31, 2027
- Final manuscripts due October 2, 2027