I arrived at M.I.T. in the fall of 2004. I had just turned twenty-two, and was there to pursue a doctorate as part of something called the Theory of Computation group—a band of computer scientists who ...

On a recent morning, I had the chance to read poems my ninth-grade English students had written about encounters with racism. I was struck by the beauty and poignance of many of their lines. Yet I ...

I was recently getting a much-needed haircut with a new stylist, and in our small talk, he asked me what I do for a living. I explained that I teach current and future teachers how people learn and do ...