Alumnus organizes free education seminars
Toward the end of his senior year at Memphis University School, Mason Soun recalls telling MUS mathematics instructor Steve Gadbois that surely they had, by that point, covered all the math in the world that there was to learn.
Later, as an undergraduate at Princeton University studying mathematics, Soun quickly realized that, actually, there was still much more.
“If all the math I knew was a drop, then there was the ocean [left] to study,” Soun said.
This realization helped inspire his creation of Memphis Communiversity, an organization designed to share his love of learning. He launched his first program in August — a weeklong series of short courses for local high school students held at Christian Brothers University.
“I’m interested in education, especially the academics themselves, whether that be math, literature, or history,” Soun said. “I want to focus on the appreciation and study of these subjects. My goal is to spread a love for the liberal arts and the sciences that was passed on to me during my days at MUS and Princeton.”
Now a 2015 Princeton graduate, Soun spent recent months organizing and recruiting teachers and students for the inaugural Communiversity seminars.
Intended for intellectually curious high school students, the program offered three courses, all of which were taught by MUS faculty members. History instructor Jonathan Large led a seminar on the life of Winston Churchill; English instructor Spencer Reese held a class titled “Literature and the Fantastic;” and math instructors Nancy Gates and Steve Gadbois co-taught a course on math competition problems and graph theory.
“What Mason created in his first Communiversity program was an opportunity for students in the Memphis area to experience the Aristotelian knowledge for knowledge’s sake, which is, after all, the essence of education,” Reese said.
About three dozen high schoolers signed up for the free courses, which Soun designed as an opportunity for learning material outside the normal high school curriculum, in a stress-free, collaborative environment.
“Really, this is learning for fun,” Soun said. “And none of it would have been possible without the generosity of CBU administrators and the time and efforts of the MUS faculty members who volunteered to teach.”
Soun’s goal is for this summer program to become an annual event.
He funded this year’s program himself, but he is in the process of filing as a 501(c)(3) organization, a designation that would exempt Memphis Communiversity and future sponsors from certain tax obligations, thus encouraging outside support for the summer program and other workshops in development.
In the second year, Soun hopes to expand the number of classes available to high school students by inviting instructors from other high schools and universities in the area to participate. He also has plans to start similar programs throughout the school year, such as a world culture night and a math league.
“What I’m hoping to promote, and what we started during the summer program, is found in the name, Memphis Communiversity,” said Soun. “Both parts of the name are equally important and form the unifying theme and foundation for all the programs ‘community’ and ‘university.’”