Math 4010
Dr. Sarah J. Greenwald

Office Hours 326 Walker Hall 262-2363

http://www.cs.appstate.edu/~sjg/womeninmath/ Check this often!

E-mail [email protected] I usually check e-mail every day.
E-mail is the easiest way to contact me outside of class and office hours to arrange an appointment...

Course Objectives

  • Learn about the lives and mathematics of women mathematicians
  • Research equity issues, women mathematicians and their mathematics in various sources including books, the web, MathSciNet, the library, and reference lists.
  • Summarize and critically evaluate sources and materials in class discussions.
  • Develop the ability to summarize a woman mathematician's life and work, given many sources of material.
  • Develop the ability to focus on a reasonable mathematical aspect to carefully research, write up and speak on.
  • Develop communication skills by communicating life and work summaries, and mathematics research to a general audience in writing, in class presentations, and (for the final project) in a web page format.

    Grades

  • Participation in Classroom Discussion 35%
    Attendance is required. You are expected to contribute to discussions and will be randomly called on to summarize readings (you may pass if you wish).
  • Paper 1 15%
  • Paper 2 15%
  • Paper 3 15%
  • Final Web Project 20%

    Policies

    Attendance and participation are expected and required. Please try to be punctual in attending, as I try to start each class on time.

    You are responsible for all material covered and all announcements and assignments made at each class, whether you are present or not. You are also responsible for announcements made on the web page, so check it often.

    Material is covered very quickly. Plan to spend at least 10 hours per week, out of class, on this course.

    When writing up work, be sure to give acknowledgment where it is due. Submitting someone else's work as your own (PLAGIARISM) is a serious violation of the University's Academic Integrity Code.

    Methodology

    Asking questions, and explaining things to others, in or out of class, is one of the best ways to improve your understanding of the material. This course is to be an environment in which everyone feels comfortable asking questions, making mistakes and offering good guesses and ideas.

    In this course, you will be challenged with problems that you have never seen before. I do not expect you to be able to solve all the issues immediately. Instead, I want to see what you can do on your own. Out in the real world, this is important, since no matter what job you have, you will be expected to seek out information and answers to new topics you have not seen before. This may feel uncomfortable and frustrating. I understand this and want to help you through the process. It helps to remember that there are no mathematical dead-ends! Each time we get stuck, it teaches us something about the problem we are working on, and leads us to a deeper understanding of the mathematics.

    In the real world though, you are not expected to face your work alone. You will be allowed to talk to other people and you may even be expected to work with other people. In this class, you are also not expected to face your work alone. I encourage you to talk to me often in class and office hours, and group work will also be encouraged.

    I am always happy to help you in class, during office hours (or by appointment), or on e-mail, and will try to give you hints and direction. At times though, to encourage the exploration process, I may direct you to rethink a problem and to come back to discuss it with me again afterwards. This occurs when I believe that the struggle to understand is imperative for your deep understanding of the material.