Hi, Josh. Great post, and I think you're right about the improv and conversational aspects of teaching. As I was reading the post, I thought of David Epstein's /Range/ (2019), where he explores jazz musicians, their training and preparation, the kind of literacy that underlies jazz improvization and its contrast with other forms of music.
Thanks Mark! Epstein’s Range came to mind for me as well. Indeed there is a lot of resonance and I think he makes a strong case there for the importance of a foundation in the fundamentals. That’s part of why I’m so in sync with our ethos of teaching a broad Engineering curriculum (and indeed a broad liberal-arts curriculum) at Harvey Mudd.
Hi, Josh. Great post, and I think you're right about the improv and conversational aspects of teaching. As I was reading the post, I thought of David Epstein's /Range/ (2019), where he explores jazz musicians, their training and preparation, the kind of literacy that underlies jazz improvization and its contrast with other forms of music.
Thanks Mark! Epstein’s Range came to mind for me as well. Indeed there is a lot of resonance and I think he makes a strong case there for the importance of a foundation in the fundamentals. That’s part of why I’m so in sync with our ethos of teaching a broad Engineering curriculum (and indeed a broad liberal-arts curriculum) at Harvey Mudd.
Here’s my piece from a while back reflecting Range in case you’re interested! https://open.substack.com/pub/joshbrake/p/federers-formula