Huh, part 1: a teaching paradox

When Jordana Cepelewicz’s profile of Fields Medalist June Huh came out last July, there was a lot of predictable meme-ing down of the article into provocative sound bites. “He only works three hours a day!” “He couldn’t figure out how to buy a blanket!” “He only cooks one dish!” And so forth.

The article itself was admirably detailed and nuanced — a full portrait rather than a mere snapshot or caricature. In returning to it a year later, I’m still finding plenty to chew on.

Here, for example, is the story of how Huh was belatedly turned onto mathematics in his sixth (!) year of undergraduate studies:

…Ostensibly, the course was an introduction to algebraic geometry, the study of solutions to algebraic equations and their geometric properties. Instead, Hironaka taught his own work in an area called singularity theory, which focuses on certain types of spaces. “Basically, he lectured about what he thought about yesterday,” Huh said — a very particular problem, and proofs that weren’t necessarily correct. What began as a 200-student class quickly dwindled; a few weeks later, only five students were left, Huh among them.

For the first time, he witnessed research mathematics unfolding in real time. Hironaka’s lectures weren’t polished as in other undergraduate courses, where everything was streamlined, the answers already worked out. Huh loved the suspense of it, the act of trying to do something no one really knew how to do — and the freedom that came with not knowing, the surprises that became possible.

This is a really nice vignette on the value of exposing students to authentic research processes as practiced by active researchers. You can sense such priceless lessons as “we haven’t already discovered everything there is to know” and “research is often nonlinear and messy.”

In this stimulating environment, with this inspiring professor, Huh discovered within himself a profound interest in and talent for math. Education at its very best, right?

And yet, if you’re like me, you also can’t help but wonder about the 195 students who withdrew — what they might have been able to learn from the class, and how.