Mathematics for Human Flourishing

Assignment Overview

While working on particularly arduous problems in AFM, some of you will look up and ask me,
“Do you do this for fun?” If by “this,” you mean “these exact problems,” the answer is no. If by
“this,” you mean “mathematics,” the answer is an emphatic yes. I realize that it’s hard to imagine
what mathematics looks like beyond the typical U.S. K-12 classroom, and what it might look like
to do for fun. This assignment is to shed some light on what the “beyond” can look like.

The text we will be working with is “Mathematics for Human Flourishing” by Francis Su, former
president of the Mathematical Association of America. In this speech, Su was talking primarily to
folks who have doctorates in mathematics and teach college students. Although you do not
have a Ph.D. in mathematics nor teach college students, you are a mathematician because you
do mathematics. For most of you (though not all!), the mathematics you do is the very particular
mathematics that we teach in schools in the U.S. As a result, some of what Su says about
mathematics may seem distant or unfamiliar to you, while other parts you may recognize.

The article allows you to see the kind of math community that mathematicians are trying (and
often failing) to foster. After reading the article and getting a glimpse of that community, you will
reflect on what kind(s) of mathematical experiences you have had that align, or do not align,
with experiences described in the article.

This assignment has three parts:

1) Read, listen to, or watch ​“​Mathematics for Human Flourishing”​ by Tuesday, March 17.
2) Answer the questions at ​Part 1: The Five Desires​ by midnight on Wednesday, March 18.
a) Make a copy of the document, add your name to the title AND to the top. For
example, my title would be “Crenshaw - M4HF Pt 1.” You have three questions to
answer, one of which is very short.
b) To turn it in, make sure I have access to ​comment​ and fill out ​this form​ with the
link to the paper.
3) Complete ​Part 2: The Five Desires in Your Math Experiences​ by midnight on Friday,
March 20.
a) Make a copy of the document, add your name to the title AND to the top. For
example, my title would be “Crenshaw - M4HF Pt 2.” You have five questions to
answer, one of which needs to be 3-5 paragraphs long.
b) To turn it in, make sure I have access to ​comment​ and fill out ​this form​ with the
link to the paper.

Please email me if you have questions, and please turn in the assignments using the form. I
hope you take some time reflecting on your math experiences: we have lots of them.