John Harris

I have been teaching at Furman since 2000, and the time has flown by.  I graduated from Furman in 1991, and I have loved being able to serve in a place that was so meaningful to me as an undergraduate.  This MayX course is an example in itself of the many things that are special about Furman --- the course involves close student/teacher interaction, in depth analysis of real world phenomena, the careful study of big ideas, and the building of community around a spirit of learning.

I grew up in Atlanta, attended Furman, went to Emory University for graduate school, and taught for five years at Appalachian State University before re-joining the Furman family in 2000.  During my graduate school and teaching careers, I have always been interested in networks (or graphs) --- in finding and studying connections between all sorts of things.  Disney World consists of a complex system of networks, and I am excited to have this as my area of focus for three weeks this May.

I have a lot of favorite Disney memories.  I made my first trip with my parents and sister, and I was old enough then to take in all of the wonder.  My honeymoon was at Disney --- my wife and I stayed in the Dolphin hotel and spent a week enjoying the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and (what was then called) MGM Studios.  We returned when our daughter was three years old, and a highlight of that trip was her getting chosen from the crowd to play “Chip” in the Story Time with Belle event.  We returned a few years later and she was chosen again --- this time to play “Mrs. Potts” (Chip’s mother) in the same event.  During another trip a few years later, my son Will got to battle Darth Vader in a light saber duel during one of the popular Star Wars weekends at Hollywood Studios. I have experienced Disney World in a whole new way during our offerings of Math and the Mouse.  My best memories are centered around the experiences of others, and I look forward to sharing great experiences with our group of Furman students this year.