This article presents the address delivered by the author to Columbia college students elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society on May 18, 2009. In the address, the author talks about the work he had done that might be of interest to these students. He emphasizes two kinds of work that are interlocking, yet distinct: (1) teaching; and (2) scholarship. He illustrates how he teaches--which is not to pass on old prejudices but to press irritating and provocative inquiries so as to raise new questions and unexpected possibilities. He thinks this helps students to learn, and learning is very different from getting educated, because learning only occurs when the intelligence and emotions are fired up, self-energized to leap forward.