Books authored

• Jama Musse Jama A note on "My Teachers's Group": News report of an injustice. Ponte Invisibile Edizioni, Pisa, 2003, ISBN: 88-88934-01-4. Language: English This book is about the story of a group of young professionals, including the author's schoolteachers, in Hargeisa who were arrested from November 1981 to January 1982 for they volunteered to assist the Hargeisa Group Hospital. These people were put in jail for eight long years in an incommunicado maximum-security prison known as Labaatan Jirow. They are internationally known as "Hargeisa Self Help Group". Others call them "UFFO" group.

• Jama Musse Jama Layli Goobalay: Variante Somala del "Gioco Nazionale Africano". Ponte Invisibile Edizioni, Pisa, 2002, ISBN 88-88934-00-6 Language: Italian Layli Goobalay, literally meaning "exercise with circles" in the Somali language, is the Somaliand Variant of the classical Count and Cupture board gamaes. This family of games, which slightly differ in the playing rules from game to game, but share the object and in the moves, is also known as "African National Game". This book is for all those who wish to approach through a game to the Culture of great people, that is of Africa, but it also for all those somaliland origin childs, being born in the Western world, will have dificulties to know about their culture of origin.

• Jama Musse Jama Shax: the preferred game of our camel-herders and other traditional african entertainments". SUN MOON LAKE, Roma, 2000, ISBN: 88-87332-05-3 Language: English Shax (pronounced shahh) used to be played in the Sub-Saharian countries prior to the foreigner's arrival in Africa. It is presented here, recreated through the magical world of informatics with the intent of documenting African cultural games.

Online and other generic publications

• Jama Musse Jama Barre Hagi Elmi Ahmed: Tribute to an unknown martyr, Somaliland Times. [also on Somaliland Forum Website]

• Jama Musse Jama Io, Immigrato, Illuso e Offeso, Bollettino Informazione Centro Nord Sud. Pisa. (sarà messa online appena possibile).

Math and Math Education and Education in general related Publications

• Jama Musse Jama Investing in Schoolteachers and other Professional Educators: the Somaliland Case, Proceedings, 8th International Congress on Somali Studies, Hargeisa, Somaliland, August 2001

• Jama Musse Jama The Role of Ethnomathematics in the Mathematics Education: Cases from the Horn of Africa, Proceedings, "I International Congress on Ethnomathematics", Granada, Spain, 1-5 September 1998

• Jama Musse Jama Self criticism and self analysis, Proceedings, "7 International Congress on Somali Studies", Turku, Filand, 6-9 August, 1998) 1998

• Jama Musse Jama & Franco Favilli Mathematics under an African Acacia Tree (submitted for publication).

• Marco Castellani, Jama Musse Jama and Giandomenico Mastroeni (1997), Duality relations for variational inequalities with applications to network flows; Rendiconti del Circolo Matematico di Palermo, Serie II, Vol. 48, pp. 39-56.

• Franco Favilli & Jama Musse Jama Linguistic and Cultural Aspects in Teaching Mathematics. International Congress on Somali Studies, held in Berlin 6-9 December 1996.

• Franco Favilli & Jama Musse Jama Teaching Mathematics in Somalia. Histò ria e Educacaò Matemà tica, Braga (Portugal) 24-31 July, 1996. Proceedings Vol. 1 pp. 307-308.

• Franco Favilli & Jama Musse Jama Creating a Mathematical Terminol ogy: The Somalia Case International Congress o n Mathematical Education 8, Sevilla (Spain) 14-22 July, 1996.

In my desertation thesis (presented on 21 March, 1996), I worked with the Operations Research and Optimization Group of mathematics dipartment, Pisa. The title of the thesis was Variational Inequality in Finite Dimensional Space. Since then various works in a different fields of mathematics was interested to me.

Optimization:

Ethnomathematics and Mathematical Education.

Research interests

Mathematics Education: Review of curricula and sylabi of secondary school mathematics in Somalia. Somali maths dictionary, suggestions and critics of somali new terms in mathematics terminology.

Ethnomathematics: East African people and their culture of using mathematics.

Abstract. The influence that linguistic aspects and culture might have on teaching and learning mathematics has received a good deal of attention. One of the elements to care of is the introduction of new terms and their use: in which context are these terms introduced? how could they be interpreted as common language?. Teaching and learning in a native language is always better than in a foreign one, however, when the language is in its state of infancy, as in the case of Somalia, it is very important to pay more attention on choosing new terms, as well as on the construction of accurate phrases for context-depending concepts. The purpose of this communication is to remark some points in the introduction of somali mathematical terminology, that can misguide the students, and consequently, to encourage a substantial revision in order to get improvements.

Abstract. The social context and the culture of a territory play an important role in the teaching of any discipline in that area. In this workshop we want to make some observations on the teaching of mathematics in Somalia. However the current situation of the country obliges us to look into how it was in 1990 and subsequently to prepare a focus issue on developing an appropriate mathematics curriculum, based on the socio-cultural context, which will enable the students to understand the concepts of mathematics.