Welcome
to the class! We're going to have a lot of fun together!
This is a DISCUSSON BASED class. I ask that you attend class every day. If you
cannot attend a particular class, simply email me in advance of the class letting me know
so that we may work out other arrangements.
Before many of the classes, I'm going to ask you to watch videos, as
you can see below. Listen and learn with these videos as well as you
can. Don't worry if you don't understand everything - that is not
expected the first time. Just do your best and come to class with your
questions!
There are also homework problems assigned before many classes. Some of
those problems may also end up on quizzes, so work as many of the
problems as you can.
Make sure you do the homework and watch the videos. The daily quizzes are OPEN
NOTES and will be easy for those who did the homework and watched the videos, rewarding
those who understood the simplest ideas. We'll pursue the deeper ideas
in class. The whole point is to get the discussion going with the
homework and videos, so that we can cover some cool topics in class.
All quizzes, homeworks, papers, presentations, and other assignments will be turned in using GRADESCOPE.
You will write 4 papers in the class, each 5-10 pages, on a topic of
your choice relating to the class, broadly interpretted. You will also
present each topic to the class with a PowerPoint style presentation
that lasts no more than 5 minutes. We'll discuss your topic ideas in class, so come to class
with some ideas.
Everyone will be assigned to a group of around 4 students to meet with
outside of class. Groups will meet both 2 days before your official
presentation day and 1 day before your official presentation day, on a
schedule that you work out with each other.
Rough drafts of your papers are due to your student group (email each
other) 2 days before your official presentation day so that you may
give each other feedback (over Zoom). You will practice your
presentations with your student group (over Zoom) 1 day before your
official presentation day.
On your official presentation day, use gradescope to turn in your paper (by midnight) and your presentation (by the beginning of class).
I encourage you to make your papers even better after class by taking
the class discussion centered on your paper into account.
Homeworks will be assigned out of our textbook, "A Survey of Classical
and Modern Geometries," version 1.5, by Arthur Baragar. (The author generously posted the book, free to use, on the AMS website.) On all homework assignments,
be ready to present any of your solutions to the class. Also, read the
book up to the pages where the homework is assigned.