Ziqi Fang

Bio

Ziqi Fang is an instructor and postdoc working across the Department of Mathematics and MIT Open Learning, a role reflecting his interest in advancing mathematical discovery and learning as an integrated effort, especially through large-scale open initiatives such as MIT OpenCourseWare, MITx, and MIT Learn. His PhD work is in the field of topology and geometry—concerning the “shape” of spaces—with a particular focus on the infinite-dimensional spaces arising from natural geometric structures on manifolds (roughly, a study of “shape of shapes” or “geometry of geometries”). Prior to that, he trained in both pure mathematics and theoretical physics, where he developed a sustained interest in how fundamental knowledge is organized in conceptual space.

Through open learning, he pursues the generation, dissemination, and preservation of open mathematical knowledge at scale. His work follows two distinct paths toward this goal: open education of mathematics and open formalization of mathematics. He sees them as the two sides of opening access to learning—whether human or machine—and he works toward open learning as infrastructure bridging the two sides. The aspiration is for this to enable education and formalization to advance in concert toward a shared open space where meaningful mathematics is generated, disseminated, and preserved at planetary scale. Complementing this work is his interest in “informalizing” abstract mathematical ideas: how they can be encountered through intuitive human experiences. He enjoys shaping this dual perspective through teaching and, more broadly, engagement across curriculum, pedagogy, and community with thought and care.