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Brendan W. Sullivan

@professorbrendan.bsky.social
638 followers 263 following 157 posts

Asst. Prof. of Mathematics, Emmanuel College (Boston, MA) 🔗🌲: linktr.ee/professorbrendan

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Brendan W. Sullivan @professorbrendan.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
I'm presenting this afternoon at #MAAMathFest, 2:15pm in the Yarmouth Room, as part of the session entitled "Rewriting Who Counts: Centering a Broader Array of Mathematicians in the Curriculum", sharing an activity I use in Precalculus about Maria Agnesi and a fascinating curve construction
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Bandcamp @bandcamp.com · 07/08/2026
Buying music on Bandcamp = supporting artists. Today is Bandcamp Friday! For 24 hours, we waive our revenue share, so even more of every purchase goes to the artists and labels behind the music. Go forth. The music is waiting. bit.ly/4pX3JPz
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MAA @joinmaa.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Join us for MAA MathFest Family Day on Aug. 8 for a free, fun-filled celebration of math! Enjoy hands-on puzzles, games, and activities for all ages, including a Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival and Math Playground hosted by The Young People’s Project. Register today: bit.ly/4g1VjCY
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Drew Lewis @drew-lewis.com · 10/06/2026
We are one week out from the Grading Conference (@thegradingconference.com)! Check out all of the happenings on Day 1 of the conference in this blog from @empittsdonahoe.bsky.social.
centerforgradingreform.org
Grading Conference Day 1 Preview
Previewing Day 1 of the 2026 Grading Conference.
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Brendan W. Sullivan @professorbrendan.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
I absolutely 100% would not have become a teacher -- wouldn't have felt comfortable at the front of a room, wouldn't have even considered pursuing a career in education -- without experience performing improv in high school and college. Getting on stage genuinely changed my life.
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Universal Hub @universalhub.com · 03/06/2026
Back in the Clover: Vegetarian chains says it's coming back from the dead www.universalhub.com/2026/back-cl... #Boston #CambridgeMA
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Drew Lewis @drew-lewis.com · 30/05/2026
If you agree that grades "should reflect whether students meet the learning objectives of the course, not how they perform compared to their peers", maybe you'd like to join us at the Grading Conference in a few weeks to learn about different ways to do exactly that. thegradingconference.com
thegradingconference.com
The Grading Conference
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Brendan W. Sullivan @professorbrendan.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Say it ain't so! Clover has been a wonderful local chain for vegetarians in Boston
We have some difficult news to share: Clover will be closing our doors this week. Thursday, May 28th will be our final day of restaurant service and meal box delivery.For 17 years, we have championed local farms and served tens of thousands across Greater Boston. We’re deeply saddened to share this news—for our employees, New England farmers, and you, our guests and supporters.
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Kit Yates @kityates.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
No matter how much you want to, you can’t just redefine how percentages are calculated. It just doesn’t add up. open.substack.com/pub/kityates...
open.substack.com
Then They Came For Mathematics
There are two ways to calculate percentages: a right way and a wrong way.
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Brendan W. Sullivan @professorbrendan.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
These "odd couple" columns are usually asinine, but this one had an unexpectedly relatable passage in the middle: www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu... "I used to think I had the best job in the world. And now, well, I don’t know how to do the thing I used to feel (somewhat) competent at."
TEACHING TODAY IS REALLY FUCKING HARD.

I come home after nearly every class feeling like a failure. It’s small comfort to hear that everyone else is having a similar experience. I don’t blame the students, who are a mess. They’re scared, depressed, lonely, exhausted, working jobs they hate, and now are having to choose between buying gas and food. I don’t know how to help them and prepare them for what comes next.

I used to think I had the best job in the world. And now, well, I don’t know how to do the thing I used to feel (somewhat) competent at. These days, I’m a mess: scared, depressed, lonely, exhausted, working a job I used to love (and paying nearly $6 a gallon for gas).
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Racially-Just, Inclusive and Open STEM Education @rioscommunity.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
**Implementing Alternative Grading** The Center for Grading Reform and the RIOS Institute are hosting a six-week Learning Community on alternative grading. Participants will apply a structured approach in a course. Prior familiarity and a target course required. Starts May 5: bit.ly/48J4sMF
bit.ly
RIOS Learning Community Application: Implementing Alternative Grading
The Center for Grading Reform, in partnership with the RIOS Institute, is pleased to sponsor a Learning Community on Implementing Alternative Grading for post-secondary faculty. In this six week…
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Barbara Fantechi @barbarafantechi.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Absolutely heartbreaking. So many mathematicians I know studied there, men AND women. Maryam Mirzakhani studied there. If this isn't enough to cancel/relocate from the US the International Congress of Mathematicians #ICM2026, nothing will be.
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Ilana Horn @ilanahorn.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
There are not "math people" and "not math people." School math represents a sliver of mathematics as a discipline, and there is a lot more in there that the so called "not math people" could really dig and be good at.
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TODOS: Mathematics for ALL @todos-math.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Mathematics lives inside our biggest social questions. Data, percentages, and models can inform—or divide—depending on how we see them. What might it mean to develop a shared mathematical lens that helps us reason, question, and find common ground? #MathEquity #iTeachMath #EduSky #Blusky
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Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
More than 1,500 mathematicians are demanding that their field’s most prestigious meeting be moved from the U.S.
scientificamerican.com
Why mathematicians are boycotting their biggest conference
More than 1,500 mathematicians are demanding that their field’s most prestigious meeting be moved from the U.S.
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Brendan W. Sullivan @professorbrendan.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
"Leibniz wanted a much more algebraic, symbolic, notation-focused calculus [...]: 'I dare say that this is the last effort of the human mind, and when this project shall have been carried out, all that men will have to do will be to be happy.' I mean, he sounds like an AI hype guy or something."
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John Warner @biblioracle.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Strong recommendation to teaching faculty to just say no to this stuff, even if you are AI curious/enthusiastic. This is meant to reduce faculty autonomy and capture human labor with automation. You're selling out your future self and the profession as a whole. www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-in...
insidehighered.com
Canvas Unrolls AI Teaching Agent
The new AI agent aims to save faculty time on “low-value tasks,” but stops short of fully automating grading. But some experts worry that the rise of agentic AI could lead to a dead classroom, where c...
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Brendan W. Sullivan @professorbrendan.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
"We need to think about cognitive fitness the way we think about physical fitness. There should be a simple rule for being a thinker in an age of AI: Don’t let AI write anything for you. Writing is to cognitive health what steps are to physical health." www.chronicle.com/article/is-a...
chronicle.com
Is AI Making Us Stupid? Cal Newport Is Worried.
The Georgetown computer scientist on resisting the temptation to automate hard thought.
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Brendan W. Sullivan @professorbrendan.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
I'm at this webinar right now about #RCV and Santa Claus just entered the chat !?!?
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Brendan W. Sullivan @professorbrendan.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Great point about product vs. process in this book review on AI in education: "Learning requires critical engagement with productive failure," but "learners often mistake our intentions because education systems and our culture put so much emphasis on grades" www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Despite the diversity of AI tools, their emergence into higher education reinforces the importance of process over product in learning and teaching. Few academics would say that our courses are fundamentally about exams, reports, and essays: we intend these products to be proxies for demonstrating an evolving process of learning. However, our learners often mistake our intentions because education systems and our culture put so much emphasis on grades and grading (Forsyth, Citation2022). The rise of AI provides a distinct opportunity for educators and institutions to explicitly make the case that learning requires critical engagement with productive failure; students cannot develop deep knowledge, skill, and judgment without struggle guided and supported by disciplinary and pedagogical experts. AI tools have the potential to augment that human work, if we resist the temptation of the “illusion of learning” by replacing human effort with technological gimmicks.
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Steven Strogatz @stevenstrogatz.com · 04/07/2025
My "Math, Revealed" series is freely available to anyone -- no paywall! -- in the thread below.
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Spencer Bagley @sbagley.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Whenever someone reports a percentage but not an absolute number, ask yourself why; whenever someone reports an absolute number but not a percentage, ask yourself why
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Brendan W. Sullivan @professorbrendan.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
"Next semester, do less that means more" Thinking about what this might mean for a calculus course. What can we do less of to make space for more meaningful learning experiences?
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Brendan W. Sullivan @professorbrendan.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
My 7-year-old has made up something she calls an "equation joke": Q: Why was 3 afraid of 5? A: Because 5 8 13! #TMWYK
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Steven Strogatz @stevenstrogatz.com · 09/06/2025
My new #math series in the New York Times, "Math Revealed," is aimed at everyone, whether you love math or not. Have a look! You can read it here for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
In Taxicab Geometry, Pi Equals 4 and Circles Aren’t Round (Gift Article)
In the world of taxicab geometry, even the Pythagorean theorem takes a back seat.
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Universal Hub @universalhub.com · 08/06/2025
Today's example of Betteridge's Law of Headlines comes to us via the Boston Globe: Trump says Harvard is teaching ‘remedial mathematics.’ Is there any truth to that? www.bostonglobe.com/2025/06/08/n... Explanation of Betteridge's Law: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteri...
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John Warner @biblioracle.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
We lament that students are disengaged from the important parts of learning and yet here are professors modeling the same kind of disengagement. Where does this end? I'm very sympathetic to the problems of too many students, not enough time. Those were the circumstances for my entire career.
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John Warner @biblioracle.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
...allowing an LLM to make your presentation from your notes is to actively avoid what is, in reality, part of the creation of that presentation. I've been doing a couple of these things a week since January and I can tell you that making the slides always always always results in changes.
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John Warner @biblioracle.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
2. But the more pernicious risk may be what I call "self-alienation" that is you gradually remove yourself from the experience of your job until you've entirely lost touch with what is and meaningful about this work. Processing student writing with an LLM is not the same thing as reading it...
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John Warner @biblioracle.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
1. Faculty who use LLMs for core aspects of their labor are inviting their own replacement. This is obvious and a cycle that will mirror what happened with adjunctification. You are showing you are unnecessary. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/blog...
insidehighered.com
Great ready for faculty bot-ification
If we want there to be such a thing as college faculty, that is.
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Drew Lewis @drew-lewis.com · 12/05/2025
We are right at one month away from the 2025 Grading Conference (June 11--13), and have just posted the schedule. Check out all the amazing presentations we will have this year! www.centerforgradingreform.org/grading-conf...
centerforgradingreform.org
The Grading Conference
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ꭓle Ormsby 𓆙 @e-infinity.space · 08/05/2025
The new pope has a BS in mathematics from Villanova, which explains how he was so successful at becoming the largest cardinal.
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Ilana Horn @ilanahorn.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
If we do not find an alternative source of funding, this means that the US will not be represented in ongoing conversations with the global community about issues in mathematics education. The isolationism is not just political, it is also intellectual and will have consequences for decades.
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Ilana Horn @ilanahorn.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
I am the current chair of the US National Commission for Mathematics Instruction. Our commission represents the US in an international community of mathematics education under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences. Our very modest NSF funding has not been renewed. #iteachmath
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Brendan W. Sullivan @professorbrendan.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
"In a data-driven society, numeracy is essential for making decisions evaluating information and holding leaders accountable. Civil rights leader Bob Moses rightfully called math literacy the civil rights issue of the 21st century."
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ꭓle Ormsby 𓆙 @e-infinity.space · 06/05/2025
I would actually prefer it if my discipline wasn't used as a proxy for intelligence / academic worth in the culture wars.
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Spencer Bagley @sbagley.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Fun fact I just learned: Google Sheets does precedence wrong. It interprets "=-A2^2" as (-A2)^2 rather than -(A2^2).
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Brendan W. Sullivan @professorbrendan.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Great suggestions here for math instructors at all levels: 1. Meet students where they are 2. Show students that instructors authentically care about their learning 3. Provide "interesting, challenging and joyful work to all students"
What should we do instead? This is a question that’s being asked and answered by many local educational institutions – The Algebra Project, the pilot program at Cambridge Street Upper School, Girls’ Angle, the Young People’s Project and Harvard University’s math department, as well by as the city’s Steam Initiative, to name a few, in addition to the Math Circle. What do all these programs have in common?

Three things: Meeting the students where they truly are, not where they theoretically should be; showing students that the instructors authentically care about them, to help them through the tough stretches of learning;  and providing interesting, challenging and joyful work to all students, regardless of whether they are behind or ahead.
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Bandcamp @bandcamp.com · 02/05/2025
Today is Bandcamp Friday.
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Drew Lewis @drew-lewis.com · 01/05/2025
And what better place to talk about alternative grading than at the Grading Conference, June 11--13? 😄
centerforgradingreform.org
The Grading Conference
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Brendan W. Sullivan @professorbrendan.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
"We are so familiar with the concept of linearity that we impose our linear frame of reference on data we observe in the real world." This makes me wonder whether the abundance of proportional reasoning problems in early school math conditions us to see everything as linear.
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Brendan W. Sullivan @professorbrendan.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
"A lover of puzzles and crosswords while growing up in Pittsburgh during the Great Depression, Mrs. Parsons deciphered German military messages that had been created by an Enigma machine."
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Colorado Community Media @ccmlocalnews.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Meet Padi Fuster Aguilera, a scientist who refuses to stay silent A Catalan mathematician, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Colorado-Boulder and outspoken advocate for social justice, Padi Fuster Aguilera stands at the intersection of science, education and activism.
coloradocommunitymedia.com
Meet Padi Fuster Aguilera, a scientist who refuses to stay silent
A Catalan mathematician, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Colorado-Boulder and outspoken advocate for social justice, Padi Fuster Aguilera stands at the intersection of science, education and activism.
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City of Cambridge @cambridgemass.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
🧮 Join us for Math Playground – a day of hands-on math fun for all ages! Sat, May 3 | 10AM–1PM Cambridge Street Upper School, 850 Cambridge St. Games, activities, and a special screening of Counted Out. 🔗 Register: camb.ma/4iGNRLW #CambridgeMA #MathPlayground #STEAM
camb.ma
Explore the Cambridge Math Playground on Saturday, May 3!
The Cambridge STEAM Initiative, Cambridge Public Schools, and the Young People’s Project (YPP) are hosting a day of fun activities for families and community members of all ages to experience the joy ...
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Brendan W. Sullivan @professorbrendan.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
According to @fairvote.bsky.social's analysis, Massachusetts ranks very low (#40) in voter turnout and dead last (#50) in closeness of elections because our average margin of victory is 66% points (!)
Massachusetts is ranked #34 for Voter Voice.

Rankings on each individual metric:
Voter turnout: #40
Margin of victory: #50
Fewest landslides: #35
Voter consensus: #4
Partisan skew: #16Bar graph. Title: Margin of victory
1st column: ranking
2nd column: state
3rd column: average margin of victory

1st column shows rankings from 41 (West Virginia, 41%) to 50 (Massachusetts, 66%)
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David Clark @dccmath.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Do you have something to say about alternative grading? We're looking for guest posters on Grading for Growth!
gradingforgrowth.com
An end-of-year break
And a chance to share your experiences in a guest post
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Bandcamp @bandcamp.com · 28/04/2025
This Friday is Bandcamp Friday.
daily.bandcamp.com
This Friday is Bandcamp Friday
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Brendan W. Sullivan @professorbrendan.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
Quote from that New Yorker piece: "You can no longer *make* students do the reading or the writing. So what’s left? Only this: give them work they want to do. And help them want to do it. What, again, is education? The non-coercive rearranging of desire."
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John Warner @biblioracle.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
Highly recommend this piece by D. Graham Burnett that really grapples with the fact that LLMs can produce an incredibly convincing simulation of human thought, but also why we can't treat the simulation as the same was what happens when humans think. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
newyorker.com
Will the Humanities Survive Artificial Intelligence?
Maybe not as we’ve known them. But, in the ruins of the old curriculum, something vital is stirring.
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Brendan W. Sullivan @professorbrendan.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
Letter to the editor in today's NY Times advocates for gradeless education! She even links to relevant articles and research, including posts by @jessifer.bsky.social and @alfiekohn.bsky.social #edusky #ungrading www.nytimes.com/2025/04/26/o...
I’m being overly simplistic, of course, but so is Mr. Brooks. I would love to have a conversation with him about how students today feel pressured to spend more time pursuing that elusive A+ than perusing their local library. I would love to have a platform half the size of his so I could advocate gradeless education — so I could point to evidence that rating students on a letter scale ruins their passion for reading.
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