Reference:
Glaz, S. (2019). Artist interview: JoAnne Growney, Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, 13(3), 243-260, DOI: 10.1080/17513472.2018.1532869
Abstract:
The interview and the ten poems authored by JoAnne Growney presented in this article reflect on the various influences and events in JoAnne’s journey through a life that includes both mathematics and poetry. The interview was conducted by Sarah Glaz in the summer of 2017 at the Bridges conference in Waterloo, Canada, where Sarah was present as the coordinator of the annual Bridges mathematical poetry readings, and JoAnne attended as an invited poet at that reading. This article is a result of the interview and several follow-up discussions.
Summary:
Sarah Glaz conducts an interview of JoAnne Growney organizing the interview into structured themes surrounding poetic works that accompany life lessons. We learn about JoAnne's upbringing, her perspectives and values (as well as those of Sarah Glaz). A key theme that is brought up is that everything is connected.
Stop 1:
"She would come into English class and she would say, ‘Guess what I watched on television last night?’ And then she would start to tell something she learned from a TV show. The big idea that I got from her is that you can learn from everything that you do. I treasure that so much." (Glaz, 2019, p. 248).
This quote really resonates with me. The openness to receiving a lesson from daily experiences, reflecting on it, and communicating that to others. I don't see this behaviour very often around my colleagues and students in the 2020's - I do witness escapism, avoidance, tolerance and reluctance. I think modeling 'learn from everything you do' behaviour is important so those who see you as a role model have something valuable to emulate. This year I have asked my students to keep a reflective journal to write in at the end of certain lessons to reflect on big take-aways (or little ones).
Stop 2:
The entirety of the section corresponding to "Everything Connects". This section shows such insight.
Growney demonstrates the connection between three seemingly unrelated articles in the New York Times through her creation of the poem Filling the Vacuum. As an Earth Science and Mathematics teacher, I am constantly trying to teach in a multidisciplinary way bringing in influences and subjects that show students subjects in school aren't meant to be isolated, and natural phenomena reduced into separate streams of study. Everything connects is the central theme that Growney has discovered over years of growing up on a farm, being religious then not, getting a PhD in mathematics, then a MFA in poetry. She has seen the academic and working life from a range of perspectives. With her positionality explicitly stated in this interview, her subjective statement "everything connects" has much weight.
Stop 3:
"My interest in these connections became aroused partly by the location of my office. For a stretch of time, the Math Department and the Art Department shared an area at my University. And so, I became very much interested in visual art, for which I had never had opportunities before. I had been a reader. Then I learned a lot about art and artists. I asked questions and went to art exhibits." (Glaz, 2019, p. 250).
Growney speaks to another connection I try to make in my daily life. Creating an environment where potential reactions can occur. I think of this like chemical reactions that require perfect geometry, energy and opportunity for collisions to be successful - be it an ionic solution or protein synthesis in a cell.
This connection from Growney about being (physically) close enough with the Arts department that she was often exposed allowed her to develop a love for it... which changed her path of life!
I recently read an article about the loss of our 'third spaces' and how we, as society, are suffering from an epidemic of loneliness. When in school, opportunities to connect are taken for granted. When graduated, one needs to actively seek out new opportunities to connect and build - first - familiarity, then acquaintance, then friendship. In the classroom, I randomly generate a weekly seating plan that provides the students an opportunity to work together for geometry/energy/collision of friendship. This mindset has really helped me combat complaints when working with students who want to sit with pre-established friends.
This was not the exact article, but does breakdown the key points in bullets from an American perspective: https://www.newporthealthcare.com/resources/industry-articles/third-places/
Stop 4:
"I was astounded by what Sharon Olds said. Not just saying that it has too many words, but assigning a number. Yet I have found that this happens to me when I read a poem aloud, that is when I get the feel of how many words may need to be eliminated." (Glaz, 2019, p. 251).
This connects with so many things in life. Growney is referring to Sharon Olds' statement "[My] poem has one-third too many words." and then in a future poem Growney writes, "poems also we make by erasing.".
When we draw, we reserve space using geometrical shapes that are substitutes for volumes taken up by body parts (see fig below). Our final drawing involves a few lines surrounding those shapes and a whole lot of erasing of the structural foundations!
Our drafts, course papers, and articles are only completed after the word count has been reached (usually by erasing/condensing/rephrasing/paring). It's the same for poetry it seems. Mike Naylor's poem Entirely Nothing came to mind where he reduces the poem by one third after each stanza. (Video below starting at 2:30)
In science, we have several theories and hypothesis for natural phenomena. Reducing our best guesses through refining and testing until we have a finished product: a theory... that maybe one day becomes a law if not disproven.
I can see a strong connection between this concept and EDCP 551 (MfSJ) in that all data (qualitative/quantitative) is objective. The moment we start filtering (erasing) and selecting, being choosy, setting limits and criteria on what 'counts', the data becomes subjective. Our graph or table, or visualization of the selected data (the poem) becomes a subjective piece of art from a creator to an audience. I can see why positionality is important - saying "this artwork is the only truth" is quite close-minded given the plethora of experiences we all navigate.
WONDER:
In the article, Growney mentions reading Derek Walcott as part of her literary studies in class. Many poems a day for weeks. Her first few, she didn't like... but after weeks of exposure and analysis, and by giving it a lot of attention, she developed an appreciation.
As humans, we judge experiences quickly so we can determine if it is safe/threatening and whether to continue doing it. Perhaps, the first exposure to each of these is like trying new foods, and students cannot develop a taste for it unless already pre-disposed via personal interest (ie. "Stella has been a writer since she was 7, she loves mathematical poetry", or "James has done hip hop since he was 5, he loves the mathematical dance lessons").
Are we doing a disservice to our students by providing shallow exposures to various topics (poetry, dance, music, art, etc) for different mathematical topics? Should we focus our efforts on providing a consistent experience of, say, math & dance analysis for our students so at the end of the day they eventually develop an appreciation for the intricacies involved?
