Topics course.: Music is a thorny issue in many Islamic societies. There is often tension between hardliners who believe that music has no place in Islam and thus try to prohibit it and those who tolerate it, albeit within well-defined parameters. The debate intensifies in the case of popular music. Despite this, there is an incredible variety of vibrant popular music traditions throughout the Islamic world.

An introduction to formal analysis and tonal harmony, and a study of pieces in the standard repertory. Regular exercises in harmony. Prerequisites: ability to read standard notation in treble and bass clefs, including key signatures and time signatures, and the ability to name intervals. (A placement test is given before the fall semester for incoming students.) One 50-minute ear training section required per week, in addition to classroom meetings. Class sections limited to 20.

An introduction to formal analysis and tonal harmony, and a study of pieces in the standard repertory. Regular exercises in harmony. Prerequisites: ability to read standard notation in treble and bass clefs, including key signatures and time signatures, and the ability to name intervals. (A placement test is given before the fall semester for incoming students.) One 50-minute ear training section required per week, in addition to classroom meetings. Class sections limited to 20.

An introduction to formal analysis and tonal harmony, and a study of pieces in the standard repertory. Regular exercises in harmony. Prerequisites: ability to read standard notation in treble and bass clefs, including key signatures and time signatures, and the ability to name intervals. (A placement test is given before the fall semester for incoming students.) One 50-minute ear training section required per week, in addition to classroom meetings. Class sections limited to 20.

This course serves as an introduction to the history of Western music by studying in detail the first performances of a small number of singularly important works in the Western tradition including Orfeo (Monteverdi), Messiah (Handel), the Ninth Symphony (Beethoven), the Symphonie fantastique (Berlioz), and Le Sacre du printemps (Stravinsky).

An introduction to Yiddish, the Jewish language of dreamers, scholars, workers, and rebels for almost 1,000 years in Europe and its diaspora. Explores folk tales, short stories, theater, film, and popular culture in historical context. How does Yiddish continue to function today as a site of radical political engagement and cultural disruption? No prerequisites; all readings in translation.

Topics course.: An introduction to the local and global geometry of curves in the plane, and curves and surfaces in 3-dimensional space, including connections to topology. Topics include the Four Vertex Theorem, the Fary-Milnor Theorem, the Isoperimetric Problem, and the Gauss-Bonnet Theorem. Prerequisites: MTH 280 or 281, or permission of the instructor.

: Partial differential equations allow us to track how quantities change over multiple variables e.g. space and time. This course provides an introduction to techniques for analyzing and solving partial differential equations and surveys applications from the sciences and engineering. Specific topics include Fourier series, separation of variables, heat, wave and Laplace’s equations, finite difference numerical methods, and introduction to pattern formations.Prerequisite: MTH 211, MTH 212, and MTH 264 (strongly recommended) or MTH 280/281, or permission of the instructor.

Topics course.: In this course students work in small groups on original research projects. The course is specifically designed for students in the Center for Women in Mathematics, but open to all serious mathematics students. Prerequisites: At least one of MTH 233, 238 or 281 and permission of the instructor.

In the class we don’t do math as much as we talk about doing math and the culture of mathematics. The class includes lectures by students, faculty and visitors on a wide variety of topics, and opportunities to talk with mathematicians about their lives. This course is especially helpful for those considering graduate school in the mathematical sciences. Prerequisites: MTH 211, MTH 212 and two additional mathematics courses at the 200-level, or permission of the instructor. May be repeated once for credit. This course is graded satisfactory/unsatisfactory only.