Jama Musse Jama

Jama Musse Jama (Somali: Jaamac Muuse Jaamac, Arabic: جامع موسى جامع‎) (b. 1967) is a prominent Somali ethnomathematician and author. He is notable for his research on traditional Somali boardgames such as Shax.

Jama Musse Jama
جامع موسى جامع
Born1967
Hargeisa, Somaliland
Alma materSomali National University,
University of Pisa
OccupationEthnomathematician, author
Known forGobannimo Bilaash Maaha / Freedom is not free (2007)
A Note on my Teacher's Group – News Report of an Injustice (2002)
A mural by Jama Musse Jama, depicting an animal story with a lion, a bleeding dromedary and other animals, as etnomathematical illustration of the mathematical geometric series of 0.5 = 1.0. Xarunta Dhaqanka ee Hargeysa (Hargeysa Cultural Centre), Somaliland, 2019.

Biography

Jama was born in 1967 in Hargeisa, Somaliland where he had his primary and secondary education. He then left for Mogadishu and attended the Somali National University, where he studied mathematics for four and half years. Fluent in Italian, Jama left Hargeysa to study as a mathematician at Pisa University in Italy and he finally got a PhD in Computational linguistics at Università degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale" in Italy. He has particular interest in civil liberties and he is the author (or co-author) of six books, two of them on Somali traditional games.

At Pisa University, Jama began researching traditional Somali games as well as the history of mathematics in the Horn of Africa, a topic which he has written about in several journals.[1] His interests include Education in Somalia,[2] and as an activist, Jama is deeply involved in the affairs of the Somali diaspora during festivals[3] and conferences which he chairs or is present as a key contributor. A specific interest of Jama's is to promote Somali language, literature, and promoting reading, he is the founder and the organiser of Hargeysa International Book Fair.[4] In 2019 Dr. Jama Musse joined as Research Associate the Centre of African Studies at SOAS, University of London.[5]

Work

Articles (selected)
  • Can a Computer compose a Somali poem after 40 years of Somali Language written experience?
  • The role of mathematics in ethnomathematics Education: Cases from the Horn of Africa
  • Creating a Mathematical Terminology: The Somalia Case with F Favilli
  • Linguistic and Cultural Aspects in Teaching Mathematics with F Favilli
  • Mathematics under an African acacia tree with F Favilli

Books
  • Cittadinanza è partecipazione, Bianca&Volta Edizioni, Trieste, 2013, ISBN 978-88-96400-50-0 (ePub ISBN 978-88-96400-51-7)
  • SUPER KEEY: La leucemia non è un gioco, Edizione ETS, Pisa, 2010, ISBN 978-88-46727-74-9 (CDROM game ISBN 978-88-46727-77-0)
  • Gobannimo Bilaash Maaha / Freedom is not free, 2007. ISBN 88-88934-06-5.
  • A NOTE ON MY TEACHER'S GROUP – News Report of an Injustice, 2003. ISBN 88-88934-01-4.
  • Shax: the preferred game of our camel-herders and other traditional African entertainments, 2002. ISBN 88-87332-05-3.
  • Layli Goobalay: Variante Somala del Gioco Nazionale Africano, 2002, ISBN 88-88934-00-6.

Awards
  • Cultura della Solidarietà, Pistoia, 29 June 2014. The organising committee commended him for his 'exemplary work promoting cultural knowledge and inquiry in Somaliland.'[6][7]

References
  1. http://www.emis.de/journals/ZDM/zdm993a2.pdf
  2. What are Somalia's development perspectives? pg 225
  3. "gargaar". Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  4. "Hargeysa International Book Fair". hargeysabookfair.com. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  5. "Centre of African Studies Research Associates". Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Jama Musse Jama of the Redsea Cultural Foundation wins prize in Italy | Rift Valley Institute". riftvalley.net. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
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