I've been putting in some long hours to get ready for the start of the semester. I'm teaching 5 distinct classes this Fall, including an evening class. What it's going to come down to are brutal Tuesdays and Thursdays (teach all 5 classes), and gentle Mondays (one class), Wednesdays (two classes), and Fridays (no classes). My prep work is complete for four out of the five. And the last one is a class I've never taught before, and so I have no idea what to expect or how it will go. Here's what I'm looking at, ordered by the Tuesday/Thursday schedule:
- MATH 126 (Precalculus 1 - Algebra and Graphing) - I taught this class last Fall, which meant that I had a lot of the prep work done already. The publishers put out a new edition of the textbook, so there was a bit of updating to do. I'm also experimenting with using slides for this class, but I already knew how the flow of class would work, and so the prep was relatively straight-forward.
- MATH 127 (Precalculus 2 - Trigonometry) - I've never taught this as a stand-alone class. I taught it as part of an accelerated MATH 128 (MATH 126 and MATH 127 combined), but that was 4-5 years ago. So this one was pretty much building from scratch. The good news about this course is that I didn't need to spend too much time thinking about the content to be up to speed. Most of the thinking time was figuring out how to frame the ideas as I was putting the slides together. Having to draw the pictures in LaTeX definitely slowed me down a bit, too.
- CS 135 (Computer Science 1 - Introduction to Progrmaming) - This is the new class. I've sort of outlined the class, but not really. I have some general ideas of what I want to put into it, but it's only a skeleton. The main thing I'm looking for students to understand from this class is that there is information everywhere about programming everything. I'm going to try to focus on the ideas/flow of programs and have their assignments include things like finding their own tutorials and other resources. Of course, I've got a list of resources for them, but that list will be superseded by other things in the next year or two because things are changing. We're going to be programming in Python, which is very quickly becoming the language of choice for both math, the sciences, and people doing data-related things.
- MATH 455 (Number Theory) - I spent all that time last year making videos, and so I'm ready to go. My videos are on YouTube and I've got my own channel set up (The Math Repository). This is one of my favorite classes to teach because it's the area of math that I enjoy the most. So even though there are only a few students in the class, I'm looking forward to it.
I'm definitely thinking of making more videos for other classes. I think it's a good way for me to keep challenging myself to grow and develop my ideas on teaching, and there's just stuff about recording videos that I'm finding very interesting to learn. Who knows? Maybe there will be some 2D computer animation in the future. (The future is at least 3 years from now, I think..) - MATH 95M (Intermediate Algebra) - I literally wrote the book for this class, as well as created the slides that the instructors use, so there's very little prep work associated with this class. The primary work will be grading and helping students when they get stuck.
One of those odds and ends is preparing for the eclipse. The eclipse will happen during our faculty development, but we're going to get about 20 minutes or so to go outside and observe it. (At least, that's the plan. There's a threat of clouds and rain next week.) Las Vegas isn't along the total eclipse path, but it will be pretty good. (The one in 2026 will be MUCH better.) We've got a bunch of solar glasses and we're also going to try to set up some telescopes, one with a solar filter and one as a projector, so we'll hopefully get several ways to view it.
It's a little bit odd to me to not have a laundry list of other people's problems to be solving right now. But it's odd in a good way. My big service responsibility this coming year will be chairing the math faculty search committee. We went from having 3.5 faculty to 2 faculty from last year to this year (though we got a temporary +1 from an emergency lecturer position). Fortunately, I think we'll have our courses covered this year without any difficulty. But we'll have to see where things go. I've already started some conversations about starting to learn some more statistics stuff in order to continue expanding our statistics profile. I won't be able to do that right away, but definitely starting around the beginning of next summer, I've got a realistic shot at putting some time aside to work through some coursework to get up to a passable level of knowledge. I really see a statistics emphasis (combined with a data science perspective) to be our pathway to having a unique program that can draw some students in. But it will take some time to get there.
Starting next month, I think I'm going to be getting into a regular bass-playing schedule at church. I think it will be fun to be connected in that way, as it's been a while since I've had the chance to play music in an ensemble setting. I found a YouTube channel that has tabs, which is good because I can slow things down to half speed and think about things like fingering, body position, and other simple mechanics (and also learning some songs). When I listen to music, I'm also focusing more on the bass line and thinking about how that fits into the bigger picture. So there's some good stuff for me to be working with. (Also, I've been enjoying Adam Neely's videos. He's a bassist and has bass lessons, but it's not all bass stuff.)
I'm also starting down the process of updating my bathroom. The contractor is set to start on Labor day. I've been getting a lot of help from one of my colleagues (including the reference for the contractor). And by getting a lot of help, I mean that I've basically relinquished almost all the decision-making because everyone knows that I shouldn't be left to make design decisions on my own. The entire bathroom will be gutted, and the only remaining piece will be the toilet. So it's going to be a substantial upgrade that will hopefully bring the bathroom up to the level of the remainder of the public spaces. In one corner of the living room, I've started to accumulate the bits and pieces that will be installed.
I am going to salvage one piece that is just the right size to be a padded kneeling pad. Not that I have any specific reason to be kneeling on the floor, but it's far more comfortable than kneeling directly on the living room floor (or the garage floor), and so I'll keep that piece. I'm not sure if there's anything else to salvage, but I'll keep looking at those pieces and see if anything comes to mind for any of the parts. In other furniture news, I also fixed one of the legs on my futon. That was actually a rather boring and simple fix. But it was a successful effort, and that's what counts!
In the realm of using things in ways they weren't designed, I've grilled a couple steaks under my chimney starter this week. It turned pretty well. I'm not sure I'd be able to mimic that same level of heat in any other way (except on top of the chimney starter, but I'd have to fill the chimney completely to get the heat as close as it is when it's underneath. I also roasted a couple jalapenos there, as well as a tomato. I'm also playing around with dried chiles. I've got a salsa in my fridge that's basically nothing more than rehydrated dried chiles (roasted slightly in a dry pan before soaking) and garlic. It's good, but it's missing a dimension of flavor somewhere. But I like the heat and it has a good flavor. It's a good starting point.
And I can't really finish this post without saying something about Charlottesville. The week before, I was talking to a spouse of one of the faculty at the retreat, and one of the points I made with him was that a largely underreported story of the last several years has been the increase in right-wing domestic terrorism. I had suggested something along the lines that something might pop in the upcoming months because of the increasing intensity of the rhetoric. I didn't know how close to that edge we really were.
I know that in my extended family and group of friends that there are people of varied political perspectives, from quite conservative to quite liberal. I know that there are some who supported Trump and celebrated his electoral college victory. Some tied it to their theological perspectives, following a lot of the ideas that Franklin Graham had put forth (including reading strongly into Trump's victory as an indication from God honoring the social conservatives). I disagreed with those things then, and the more I see history playing out, the more I believe that if it's true that Trump's election is "from God" in a theological sense, it makes more sense to view it in light of passages like 1 Samuel 8. It's not as if the character of the man who had real problems condemning white supremacists was not known in advance of the election, nor that one of the men running his campaign (Bannon) was strongly in that camp.
But as is always the case, the past cannot be changed. I don't think that railing against the President is going to be ultimately fruitful. To the extent that Christians had put their hope in Trump, it's time to walk that back and focus on the true gospel. Despite theological disagreements of many types that can be found across American Christianity, the unifying theological core is that of grace and the ministry of reconciliation. I see some people posting things on Facebook like "If you supported Trump, I can't be your friend anymore." I think that's unfortunate, and completely anti-grace. On the other side, I see people staunchly defending the indefensible and trying to turn this back to something having to do with Obama for the state of racial strife. I think that's equally unfortunate, and completely anti-grace. Without grace, there is no break to the escalation. It's not about who was right or wrong (or who did right or wrong) in the past, though the past has much to teach. It's about advancing the gospel in the future.
So where do we go from here? I would like to offer up a few statements from various places for reflection. Reading full articles is always better than reading snippets, but since snippets are more likely to be read I've included them.
- Race, the Gospel, and the Moment - Tim Keller: First, Christians should look at the energized and emboldened white nationalism movement, and at its fascist slogans, and condemn it—full stop. No, “But on the other hand.” The main way most people are responding across the political spectrum is by saying, “See? This is what I have been saying all along! This just proves my point.” The conservatives are using the events to prove that liberal identity politics is wrong, and liberals are using it to prove that conservatism is inherently racist. We should not do that.
- #Charlottesville, the Christian Response, and Your Church's Call - Ed Stetzer: So, as a white evangelical, part of a demographic category who disproportionally supported President Trump, let me start by saying this movement is antithetical to the gospel. It is an abomination to all that we stand for, and it must be condemned on every level of leadership in the Church. There is no room for waffling. We cannot sit in silence hoping this will pass.
We must not respond in silence, and we can speak at our churches. It does not mean we have to rewrite our sermons, though we can speak to the moment. And our commitment to love the world that God loves cries out for us to stand together with those who are on the receiving end of hate.
Silence is simply not an option.
- The Centuries-Old Habits of the Heart - Theon E. Hill
Sadly, the church frequently surfaces as a guilty culprit in the story of America’s embrace of white supremacy. Not only did the church fail to provide a consistent counterpoint to white supremacy in the broader culture, but it also harbored it within the walls of congregations around the nation. When slave masters refused to evangelize their slaves during the early part of the 18th century, the church, rather than condemning slavery, went to great lengths to assuage the masters’ concerns.
The practice of accommodating white supremacy is not unique to white America. People of color have often deployed accommodation strategically, hoping that it will lead to greater acceptance by whites. Booker T. Washington, in his famous Atlanta Exposition Address, embraced the logics of “separate but equal,” expecting blacks to experience upward mobility as they demonstrated their worth to white America. W. E. B. DuBois called on blacks to avoid racial activism during the First World War, believing that loyalty to the nation during this difficult moment would produce greater acceptance during the post-war period. Even my personal hero Dr. King hesitated to oppose racists in the Democratic Party in 1964, believing that accommodation would produce greater gains for blacks in the long term.
My prayer is that God will raise up a generation of his people who reject accommodation and embrace the struggle for racial justice as an outgrowth of the gospel. As Frederick Douglass observed, “If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. … Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”
- Being an American Christian after Charlottesville - Fr. Michael J. Rogers S.J.: If we dare to call ourselves Christians, then it is our work to follow the one who rendered those divisions incoherent. For those of us who exist in the realms of privilege because of our race, gender, material wealth, or education, the only Christian response to Charlottesville and Ferguson is solidarity with our brothers and sisters who suffer, even to the point of putting our very selves physically on the front lines in the spirit of the One whom we follow.
Such a stand is all the more essential when the forces of xenophobia, which are nothing short of anti-Christian, come to town in their costumes with white hoods and orange armbands.
Beyond the dramatic moments where it might be obvious that we should stand hand-in-hand, we must be daring enough to stand on the precipice of the uncomfortable. Actively giving up our privilege by ensuring equity for all in education, healthcare, and pay, is a sign of our willingness to take up the cross in the hope that God’s will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Attentiveness to and rejection of privilege is a mark of our desire to be counted among those who fed Christ when he was hungry, clothed him when he was naked, visited him in prison and care for him when he was sick. Solidarity is not just about standing in line against the forces of racism, it is also about rooting out the latent racism which rests in every privilege which we enjoy and are afraid to lose.
- After Charlottesville, will white pastors finally take racism seriously? - Jemar Tisby (Washington Post Op-Ed): Black Christians have pointed to the warning signs. Plenty of us said that the current president, based on his rhetoric during the campaign, would energize a new era of bigotry. President Trump has created a context in which white supremacists feel emboldened in their views and have no shame in admitting them publicly and vocally.
Yet at the polls, white evangelicals voted overwhelmingly for Trump. Despite all of their verbal commitments to equality and racial reconciliation, 80 percent of white evangelicals went against the voices of their brothers and sisters of color.
When a black pastor in the largest Protestant denomination in the country presented a resolution condemning the alt-right and white supremacy, a small group of mostly white pastors dismissed it out of hand. It took the protests of other pastors, as well as a swift backlash on social media, for the Southern Baptist Convention to pass a modified resolution at its annual meeting in June.
I appreciate the notable exceptions — those white pastors who have spoken up about white supremacy, sometimes in the face of strident opposition. Unfortunately, they are all too few.
