Graduate Student Seminar

The Graduate Student Seminar is a three credit course offered every spring. It is a requirement that every student successfully completes the seminar before his or her third year of study. Each student participating in the seminar is expected to give a presentation. The topic may have no relation to the student's area of specialization. The topics should be marvels of mathematics requiring no special background and be selected across all areas of mathematics in wide consultation with the faculty.

The Seminar should:

• Give students a chance to see mathematical pearls from various areas of mathematics which they may not have a chance to view later, when they become more specialized.
• Promote students' skills in presenting exciting and understandable mathematical lectures. Seeing fellow students making presentations, noticing their strong and weak points, and hearing instructor comments may be very important in helping the students become more accomplished speakers.
• Help students learn how to use the mathematical literature.
• Help students meet our faculty. It would be natural for a student preparing a specific topic to consult with the faculty member who proposed that topic, or with a faculty member who can talk inspiringly about it.