The Man Who Knew Infinity: Decolonizing Cambridge
Brown’s The Man Who Knew Infinity (2016) tells the biographical story of a young Indian man with a proclivity for mathematics who, when admitted to Cambridge University, achieves more than he was ever expected to. From his beginnings in Madras, Ramanujan has always had a relationship with numbers and the patterns of the universe. Upon his admission, and controversial travel as a Brahmin across the sea, Ramanujan is challenged in his ways of knowing. This analysis will answer three primary questions and will integrate both course content as well as broader media sources as evidence to support the following claim: Ramanujan would have been better supported in his learning if a decolonizing paradigm was implemented, especially in recognition of the power relations at play within Cambridge. To assert this claim I will design a learning experience in which Ramanujan would be encouraged to learn and convey his knowledge. Finally, I will include the limitations of this particular collegiate context in relation to Ramanujan’s experience and connect his experience to best practice within student affairs.
When asked whether or not a decolonizing paradigm would be an appropriate framework constructing learning experiences for Ramanujan, the answer is a resounding: yes! Morreira writes that decolonial ways of constructing education disturb the notion that there are legitimate and illegitimate ways of knowing (2017). The power, privilege, and oppression that scholars use to undermine traditionally Western thinking is both harmful and a disservice to the goals of academia. Moreover, Ramanujan is constrained in his ability to engage in border thinking, a practice which prioritizes disobedience in the face of colonial epistemology. For Indian students at Cambridge, the tools of survival often times include assimilation to normative expectations of scholarship.
Decolonizing Paradigm
In The Man Who Knew Infinity, Ramanujan is constantly reminded of the disruption that he is causing by simply being in white English spaces. One professor remarks, “You don’t belong here and you can tell your Master Hardy I said that myself, now get out” when Ramanujan correctly demonstrates a proof in front of the class (2016). Here, Ramanujan is being verbally reprimanded for demonstrating his knowledge of mathematics beyond what is being taught. When subordinates challenge their oppressors, systems of power are disrupted as a byproduct of border thinking. I am reminded of the beginning of the semester where we analyzed Good Will Hunting, and of the disruption that occurs when the undereducated challenge the expectations put on them by professors in higher education.
In the film X+Y, Nathan performs a similar feat to both Ramanujan and Will and is congratulated for his work (2014). These three films help demonstrate the clear differences that exist in the ways that racially minoritized students, especially those with Western ways of knowing, are treated in academia. Zembylas writes about the resistance of Eurocentrism that is integral to decolonizing higher education, and the shifting of institutions to embrace ideas that come from indigenous and communities of color (2018). It is clear that even though Ramanujan, Will, and Nathan are all prodigious mathematicians, the Indian man is treated very differently than the two White men. Ramanujan is expected to legitimize his work according to Eurocentric ideals, which he problematizes saying, “I don’t think about this the same way you do. These steps that you want, I don’t know how to do!”
Learning Environments
Ramanujan’s desperation to conform to Hardy’s expectations of him come from his innate need to provide for his wife and his aspirations to achieve greatness. There are a number of ways that Ramanujan could better be supported, and that his learning environment could better be tailored to his needs and aspirations. William & Bryant’s discussion on the Indigenous food systems degree at FNTI provide several great examples of how to integrate cultural practices into academia (2019). One example that could work in Ramanujan’s case is the learning circle, where participants are able to share ideas and collectively construct knowledge (Williams & Bryant, 2019). Instead of Cambridge professors actively dismissing Ramanujan’s ways of knowing because they are unfamiliar, these professors could engage in intercultural dialogue and possibly discover that their ways of knowing are limited.
Another key piece of Ramanujan’s learning environment is his physical, mental, and emotional wellness. After traveling thousands of miles across the sea Ramanujan is dealt aggression after aggression when he is served meat at the dining hall, beaten in the streets by soldiers, and denied a fellowship opportunity in spite of his talents (Brown, 2016). Shahjahan writes on the importance of the body stating, “Bringing awareness to our bodies help us acknowledge and dismantle hegemonic knowledge systems that privilege the mind.” (Shahjahan, p. 489, 2015) Ramanujan’s life work suffered because of the absence of support he was given in nurturing his body as well as his mind, and a better learning environment would have been more accommodating to his dietary needs. Hardy states, “I want everything to be to your advantage, so that we can be as productive as possible” when discussing the food that Ramanujan was served (Brown, 2016). While sentiments like this are respectable, Ramanujan’s religious practices were not valued enough to provide him with vegetarian options. The TikTok from Laav Patel discusses the rationale behind the Hindu and Sikh dietary practices, which connect spirituality to the wellness of the mind and body.
Limitations
While best practice would certainly be to support Ramanujan in his learning through a decolonizing pedagogy paradigm, there are still complications that can arise within Cambridge. Ogden centers the role of student affairs educators around our mission of preparing students to be participating members of the global community, and as such we must provide students with transferable knowledge that can be applied in many contexts (2007). Where this complicates a decolonizing pedagogy, paradigm is in the applicability of material to future work. Ramanujan is clear that his formulas come to him from God, and while it is important to embrace Western ways of knowing, it is naïve to think that the greater public would accept this rationale. Academia cannot silo itself from the broader community so much that we are distanced from layman’s ways of understanding. This is all to say that we must not sacrifice our student’s employability, or publish-ability in Ramanujan’s case, for the sake of decolonizing Eurocentric ways of knowing.
The “explaining to my mom” meme has been used to illustrate the reaction that Hardy suggests would occur if Ramanujan was to provide no proofs with his equations. Diab et al. illustrates this paradox in their research on clinicians and the decolonization of epistemology. While challenging coloniality is crucial to a decolonizing pedagogy, we also must succumb to pedagogical hegemony if our field or clients demand it from us (Diab et al., 2020). It is the role of institutions to provide students with the tools and resources to learn, and that learning must paradoxically prioritize indigenous and Western ways of knowing while also prioritizing a student’s future work. This collaboration is a hard line to walk and is represented in the dark Kermit Meme where the two paradigms are challenging one another.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the role of decolonizing academia falls on the shoulders of student affairs professionals, faculty, and other administrators in higher education. Ramanujan could have been better served if the faculty at Cambridge legitimized his ways of knowing and disrupted Eurocentric epistemologies. A better learning environment could have been created which created space for the co-construction of knowledge and to recognize the importance of the mind and body in Ramanujan’s success. While a decolonizing paradigm would have likely been successful, there remain limitations for institutions who shift towards this paradigm as they may be under-preparing their students for a world which will still undervalue Western ways of knowing like the ones Ramanujan presents in The Man Who Knew Infinity. [(1484)]
References
Brown, M. (Director). (2016) The Man Who Knew Infinity [Film]. Warner Bros.
Dark Kermit [Digital Image]. (2014) Retrieved from https://imgflip.com/memegenerator/Evil-Kermit
Diab, M., Veronese, G., Jamei, Y. A., & Kagee, A. (2020). The interplay of paradigms: Decolonizing a psychology curriculum in the context of the siege of Gaza. Nordic Psychology, 72(3), 183–198.
Me Explaining to My Mom [Digital Image] (2019) Retrieved from https://imgflip.com/memegenerator/185536441/Me-explaining-to-my-mom
Morreira, S. (2017). Steps towards decolonial higher education in Southern Africa? Epistemic disobedience in the humanities. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 52(3), 287–301.
Patel, L. (2020, March 28.) Reply to @monu_sharma_7. [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@laav_patel/video/6944679840918342917?_d=secCgYIASAHKAESMgowo8HSVKzmvrWsnW%2Bbk2DNv4hLmOshYS%2FIIXOzNG%2BgFkzAZWUKgayvrxbuRAl4zHF7GgA%3D&language=en&preview_pb=0&sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAAfflLIRbF283jyjQB2qnL2g89HmTaRTX-hP14ZPKZkcsL3pUpp6fHLrKXyWkcFJ1Y&share_item_id=6944679840918342917&share_link_id=ADAC4878-A306-430E-B8B5-1FCDB5793BA2&source=h5_m×tamp=1618450654&tt_from=copy&u_code=d7b5mj8chhm4d0&user_id=6716604258488091654&utm_campaign=client_share&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=copy&_r=1
PinnacleFilmSales. (2015, January 28). X+Y (Clip) — Nathan solves math problem | Pinnacle Films. [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYAahN1G8Y8
Shahjahan, R. A. (2015). Being ‘lazy’ and slowing down: Toward decolonizing time, our body, and pedagogy. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 47(5), 488–501.
Williams, K., & Brant, S. (2019). Good Words, Good Food, Good Mind. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 9(B), 1–14.
Zembylas, M. (2018). Decolonial possibilities in South African higher education: Reconfiguring humanising pedagogies as/with decolonising pedagogies. South African Journal of Education, 38(4).
