The triumphant expansion of mathematics and the mathematical sciences in the modern era has not diminished widespread popular alienation from the field. Even many highly intelligent and accomplished individuals not only admit but proudly proclaim that they know nothing of it. Placed on the highest of pedestals and admired from afar, mathematics is effectively marginalized from cultural life.

Yet there has been a growing interest in the interconnections between mathematics and culture in recent years. The past decade has seen a flowering of popular literature about mathematics, both fiction and non-fiction, as well as several successful movies and a long-running television series. At the same time there has been a continuous increase in academic activity in the field, including joint meetings of mathematicians and humanists, and high-profile publications.

The time is ripe, we believe, to establish a Center for the Study of Culture and Mathematics to help bridge the chasm between mathematics and broader society. The Center would bring mathematics to the attention of historians, philosophers, writers, and others. At the same time, mathematicians would work with other scholars to situate mathematics in its natural place at the center of modern culture.

Capitalizing on the groundswell of interest, the Center will provide a home and an institutional base to the growing field. It will provide grants and support research on the interrelations of mathematics and broader culture. It will organize regular meetings and workshops on different facets of the field, involving mathematicians, literary scholars, historians, and writers, and organize regular publications in the field.

The Center will not be limited to strictly academic activities. It will organize workshops for authors, journalists and science writers who specialize in writing on mathematics-related topics for a broad audience. Just as importantly, the Center will engage mathematics teachers of all levels, who confront indifference to the field on the part of students on a daily basis. It will organize workshops attended by both teachers and academics, combining the teachers' vast reservoir of experience with insights from ongoing research on the interrelationship of mathematics and broader culture. The Center will then support the development of a curriculum based on the outcome of the workshops.

Through academic activities, public outreach, and teacher workshops, the Center will confront the anomalous position of mathematics in modern life. It is the goal of the Center for the Study of Mathematics and Culture to bring mathematics back to its natural place at the heart the cultural mainstream.