Math 398 Section 01
Fall 2007
Course webpage: http://www.math.tulane.edu/~mjoyce/math39801fall07.html

Instructor: Michael Joyce Meeting Time: MW 4:30 - 5:45

Location: Gibson 310

Course content: Under faculty guidance, students will select a topic in current Mathematical research, write an expository article on that topic, and give an oral presentation. This seminar is required of all Mathematics majors who are not doing an Honors Project within the department. Completion of 398 and 399 fulfills the college writing requirement.

Textbook: None.

Attendance: Students are expected to attend all class meetings.

Academic honesty: All students are expected to comply with the Honor Code of the Liberal Arts and Sciences. I take academic honesty very seriously and will take appropriate steps regarding all perceived violations.

Course outline: The senior seminar is designed as a capstone course for math majors. There are three goals for the course. First, you will increase the breadth of your mathematical knowledge. Secondly, you will learn how to read and comprehend mathematical research articles. Third, you will improve your ability to present mathematical ideas in both oral and written form.

There are three main components of the course. The first component is a year long individual project, in which you will select a research article to report on. You will select a faculty advisor to help you with this project. Your final report will consist of a 10-15 page paper and a 40-45 minute talk based on the article, which will be due in March/April 2008. In January 2008, you will give a shorter (approximately 20 minute) talk and giving a preliminary report on your work to date and turn in a draft of your final paper at least 5 pages in length. You are required to choose your topic and find a faculty advisor by Monday, October 1. A 1-2 page prospectus on your project will be due on Monday, October 15.

A second component of the course consists of seminar talks given by outside speakers. These talks will focus on interesting topics in mathematics that may not have been covered in your courses as well as give some indication of how mathematics is applied in other fields. After each talk, you will write and submit a 1 page summary of the talk.

A third component of the course will consist of two group projects. The first of these will be due in September, while the second one will be due in November. The projects will consist of groups of 3-4 members reading a paper and reporting on its contents through a presentation. The first project should consist of a 3-4 page paper and a 20-30 minute presentation, while the second project will require a 5-8 page paper and a 40-45 minute presentation.

Your final (spring) grade for the senior seminar will be determined primarily by your individual project (roughly 50%), with the rest of the grading determined by the two group projects (roughly 25%) and attendance throughout the year (roughly 25%). You are expected to attend all meetings. The senior seminar satisfies part of the college writing requirement.

Tentative Schedule:
Spring Schedule