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August 16, 2016 6:36 PM   Subscribe

Francis Su is a professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College and the first non-white president of the Mathematical Association of America. In 2013, he presented his Haimo Teaching Award lecture, The Lesson of Grace in Teaching. For Su, when we learn the lesson of grace—that we have dignity irrespective of accomplishments—and when we impart that lesson to our students, we make good teaching, enthusiastic learning, and honest evaluation possible.

A similar, adapted talk at Wheaton College

Other essays by Francis Su:
Solve this math problem: The gender gap
Earlier this month, Maryam Mirzakhani became the first woman in history to win a Fields Medal — "math's Nobel Prize." This is a cause for celebration, but also for reflection. Things are definitely better than they once were for women in mathematics... But Mirzakhani's achievement aside, we are still a long way from adequately recognizing the outstanding work of women.
Freedom through Inquiry
Freedom is the ability, in relationship with my peers, to proclaim: “my feet and my head are sticking out of my bed”. Or the freedom to say “my proof is wrong” without shame or judgment. Indeed a wrong proof was always a point of delight, because it meant we were seeing something subtle, and it was a challenge to further problem-solving!

What if we could help people across the educational spectrum see a culture of inquiry as a means of producing an environment of freedom: where students can respond to every setback without shame and as a springboard to further investigation?
posted by J.K. Seazer (20 comments total) 74 users marked this as a favorite
 
Francis Su is an amazing math professor, I was really happy to have been able to take his math classes while I was at HMC. I'm always happy to see his name pop up on the internet. Thanks for posting some of these articles, J.K.!
posted by RubixsQube at 6:51 PM on August 16, 2016 [3 favorites]


Prof. Su is a charming guy—I never took classes from him when I was at Mudd, but the public talks I saw him give were great. All my math major friends echoed RubixsQube's sentiments.
posted by Maecenas at 8:02 PM on August 16, 2016


This is good. Thanks.
posted by Miko at 8:29 PM on August 16, 2016


That was really lovely. Thank you for sharing it.
posted by the marble index at 8:42 PM on August 16, 2016


So is secularism just dead among American academics, or is it an aberration of some kind that an address to a mathematicians' association can now be this religiose and attract, apparently, only praise for it? A few decades ago I feel sure this kind of speech would only have been given at a Christian institution, or indeed a church, to a Christian audience, while the public and professional version would've been translated into the shared language and values of the secular academy (and it's easy enough to translate, in this case — to say "humanity" rather than "grace" or whatever — that it seems pretty deliberately left undone).
posted by RogerB at 8:50 PM on August 16, 2016 [3 favorites]


I don't believe secularism is dead, but such is an instance of de-emphasis because this particular academic (in mathematics) isn't sufficiently familiar with it. I agree with your calling it out, but by what terms anyone comes around to inclusion and rationality is mostly a net positive.

Grace as a concept became important to me reading Flannery O'Connor and James Baldwin. Malick's The Tree of Life captivated me with its opening voice-over:

The nuns taught us there are two ways through life. The way of nature, and the way of grace. You have to choose which one you will follow. Grace doesn't try to please itself. Accepts being slighted, forgotten, disliked. Accepts insults and injuries. Nature only wants to please itself, but others to please it too. Likes to lordeth over them. To have its own way. It finds reasons to be unhappy when all the world is shining around it. And love is smiling through all things. They taught us that no one who loves the way of grace ever comes to a bad end. I will be true to you. Whatever comes.
posted by lazycomputerkids at 9:10 PM on August 16, 2016 [2 favorites]


So is secularism just dead among American academics

No.
posted by escabeche at 9:34 PM on August 16, 2016 [2 favorites]


Maybe I should expand on that. Academic math, in general, is a pretty secular zone. But "secular" doesn't mean "people who are religious have to hide that fact in public." It would be weird to proselytize from a podium at an MAA conference, sure. But this isn't that. I'm an adherent of a religion that's pretty fundamentally incompatible with Christianity and in which "grace" is not a particularly central, and I thought Francis's talk was great.
posted by escabeche at 9:38 PM on August 16, 2016 [11 favorites]


My SO is a math professor and Mudd alumna. I can't wait to show her this (though she's probably already seen it.)
posted by Navelgazer at 10:09 PM on August 16, 2016


I start my 16th year teaching tomorrow. Thanks for this.
posted by charmedimsure at 11:35 PM on August 16, 2016


I also went to Mudd, and though I never had a class with him he was very well regarded amongst every one I know that did.
posted by flaterik at 12:00 AM on August 17, 2016 [1 favorite]


Thank you for sharing the article on grace. It has come at an opportune moment for me.
posted by infini at 2:21 AM on August 17, 2016


I really needed to read this. I think for the first time I might print out an article from the Internet and keep it in my desk so I can always come back to it.
posted by lilac girl at 4:23 AM on August 17, 2016


Thank you. This matters.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:03 AM on August 17, 2016


Thank you for this. It's a very helpful way to think about the practicalities of teaching and learning, as well as about what makes academia worthwhile as a profession. The explicitly Christian references startled me a little - I wouldn't have expected them from a European academic, even a Christian one, because of the differences in the public culture around religion - but it doesn't detract from the generalisability of the argument. I do think that the argument has to rest on some kind of mystical or quasi-theological it-just-is-so idea of unconditional human dignity, but so do lots of other arguments that we happily accept on non-religious grounds (eg "human rights are a thing").
posted by Aravis76 at 5:20 AM on August 17, 2016 [2 favorites]


This is great. I'll be sharing it with my colleagues.
posted by bardophile at 5:37 AM on August 17, 2016


I do think that the argument has to rest on some kind of mystical or quasi-theological it-just-is-so idea of unconditional human dignity, but so do lots of other arguments that we happily accept on non-religious grounds (eg "human rights are a thing").

I don't happily accept such arguments and frankly I think it's the establishment that's complicit in making unreflexive appeals to human rights. Slavoj Zizek for example has done a lot in raising awareness of this modern problem.

The appeal to dignity can be problematic for the same sort of reason; in my limited understanding, the philosophical problems around it go back to Kant, and further. For example, Su's definition of grace, you ≠ the social standing assigned to you, seems close or maybe even a consequence (just guessing here) of Rawlsian "veil of ignorance", where it may superficially look like an simplistic appeal to dignity or empathy, but actually does not (or at the very least, some argue), which is why it's conceptually important and influential.

In this example, it isn't just the Christian references: if you look at the structure of his talk, it has many of the characteristics of a sermon. The depth of argument; the choice of examples; the particular repetitiveness, for example. Or, when he makes a subtle logical skip: he says he "Just" switched advisors, but that's no trivial action and even unconsciously speaks to a privilege, of even having/perceiving that as a valid choice. And astute readers should clue into that as a an opening for deeper analysis and engagement with his ideas.

I don't know; rhetorically does Su's argument accidentally substitute meaning from achievements with deriving meaning from "healthy" struggle? Is that an appropriate move? Can we clarify the potential ambiguities there?

However. All this said, personally for me, the piece was very moving, and perfect timing yesterday. So, OP thank you for making this post. I cried as I read it as it stirred up memories and emotions of what it was like through grad school. Anyone who's experienced impostor syndrome—or was in denial about it—would probably be very moved by what Su had to say. And what he said should inspire people to seriously consider and evaluate the idea of unconditional dignity and how that connects to how we act in our daily lives, how we treat each other, and keep all this in our minds as we muddle through this confusing thing called life.
posted by polymodus at 1:37 PM on August 17, 2016 [1 favorite]


I don't happily accept such arguments and frankly I think it's the establishment that's complicit in making unreflexive appeals to human rights. Slavoj Zizek for example has done a lot in raising awareness of this modern problem.

Sure, my "we" was not all-inclusive - it was only intended to reflect the fact that such arguments are not inherently Christian or theist in character, not that they are universally accepted. There are atheists who agree with me that universal human rights represent first premises in our moral reasoning, not resting on or contingent on the satisfaction of some condition (eg on capacities for intelligent self-reflection or whatever), and atheists who don't. It's not a purely theistic position, that's all. But the link between that argument and Su's argument here seems to me to be obvious. It would be easy to respond to him by asking what does ground human worth, if not accomplishments of some kind, however broadly defined (if not your academic achievements, maybe your ability to cook? Or to make your friends smile? Something?). This is a similar question to asking what can possibly ground human rights, if not certain uniquely human capacities, however broadly defined (self-reflection, capacity to determine one's life projects, whatever). It creates a similar problem of a) leaving some people out and b) making worth/dignity/rights conditional for the rest.

(I do think there is an important analytical difference between criticising some invocations of human rights arguments and criticising the whole form of a human right argument as empty. I don't know which Zizek does because I've never able to understand what he's saying, I'm afraid, but that's a digression.)
posted by Aravis76 at 11:34 PM on August 17, 2016 [1 favorite]


Thank you for sharing this, I'm neither teacher, nor academic, nor religious - but I found something very worthwhile in it, and it is certainly relevant for the approach I take when delivering training.
posted by smoke at 1:41 AM on August 18, 2016


I'm sort of interested to see people focusing on the religious aspect of this, which he defines as personal and confines to a single paragraph. I thought the it was interesting because the piece in fact promotes a secularized grace, shows how the concept has utility beyond religious thinking.

One of the reasons I maintain a religious practice is that I do see the problem of a fundamental lack of justification for grace and dignity in non-religious moral systems. Just assuming it as first principle is no better than just assuming a religious basis for it. There is a 'gut' leaning toward it which I suppose is somewhat inherent in human nature, but few strong arguments as to why people should be accorded any special dignity. It's not a problem I obsess over, as I am no philosopher and don't tend to demand total consistency from a world of meaning which we ourselves construct, but it is good to know that others have recognized there seems to be no universally applicable physical, material reason why anyone or anything should have more or less worth, dignity, or whatever than anyone else.
posted by Miko at 7:09 AM on August 18, 2016 [4 favorites]


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