by Matthew Oswald, Philosophy One of the best pieces of advice a professor has ever given me about coursework is to write about whatever topic I understand least. We develop the most when we’re challenged; stretching our capacities is how we extend them. Sadly, one of the deleterious features of our university system’s fervor for…
by Dru Alexander Horne, Mathematics Most people would see writing and mathematics as diametrically opposed, but I see them as two sides of the same coin. I’ve been doing both of them for most of my life: honing the fundamentals, learning new techniques, and exploring new directions. After all, both mathematics and writing are about…
by Danielle Kotrla, Philosophy I was recently grading a stack of papers from an introduction to cognitive science course where students were tasked with explaining one of the arguments from the readings we’d done in the course. This is a relatively straightforward assignment: tell me a claim that is being made, what support the author…