2019-2020 Undergraduate Course Catalog 
    
    Mar 19, 2024  
2019-2020 Undergraduate Course Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Mathematics, BA


Contact:

Department Chair: Uday Banerjee, 215 Carnegie Building, banerjee@syr.edu, 215-443-1478

Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies: Leonid Kovalev, 311C Carnegie Building, lvkovale@syr.edu, 315-443-1487

Major Advisors:

S.P. Diaz, L. Kovalev, A. Vogel, S. Wehrli

Faculty

Uday Banerjee, Pinyuen Chen, Dan Coman, J. Theodore Cox, Steven Diaz, Nicole M.L. Fonger. Jack E. Graver, Duane Graysay, Philip S. Griffin, Tadeusz Iwaniec, Lee Kennard, Hyune-Ju Kim, Mark Kleiner, Leonid Kovalev, Loredana Lanzani, Graham J. Leuschke, Wei Li, Jianxuan Liu, Adam Lutoborski, Joanna O. Masingila, Terry R. McConnell, Claudia Miller, Jani Onninen, Evgeny Poletsky, Declan Quinn, Minghoa Rostami, Lixin Shen, Gregory Verchota, Andrew Vogel, Stephan Wehrli, William Wylie, Yuan Yuan, Dan Zacharia

All students who plan to take any courses in mathematics should take the Mathematics Placement Examination.

Students who complete any calculus course numbered 284 or higher with a grade of C or better are exempt from the quantitative skills requirement. Otherwise, students may satisfy the quantitative skills requirement by passing two courses in an approved sequence, as described in the Liberal Arts Core Curriculum Handbook. Students who have been awarded credits in calculus on the basis of the CEEB Advanced Placement Examination may use those credits to satisfy this requirement.

There are two calculus sequences, MAT 285 , MAT 286  and MAT 295 , MAT 296 , MAT 397 . Advisors are available in the Department of Mathematics to assist students in the choice of the appropriate calculus sequence, which is very important since switching sequences is difficult. Furthermore, only one of MAT 284  or MAT 285  may be taken for credit. Students cannot receive credit for MAT 284  or MAT 285  after successful completion of MAT 295 . Also, students cannot receive credit for MAT 295  after successful completion of MAT 286 .

As a preliminary requirement for the mathematics major, students complete 18 credits in the following classes with no grade below a C: MAT 295 , MAT 296 , MAT 331 , MAT 397 , and MAT 375 . These courses are prerequisites for most upper-division courses. The following sequence is recommended: MAT 295  in the first semester; MAT 296  in the second semester; MAT 331 , MAT 397  in the third semester; and MAT 375  when appropriate. However, students with knowledge of trigonometry and a year of high school calculus may be able to enter the sequence at MAT 296  or even MAT 397 ; students with less preparation may be advised to complete MAT 194  before beginning the calculus sequence. Students considering becoming mathematics majors are strongly encouraged to talk to a mathematics major advisor as soon as possible. Computer science students (only) who have credit for CIS 375 , and are pursuing a dual major in mathematics, need not take MAT 375 .

Students who plan to pursue graduate study in mathematics should obtain the B.S. degree and consider taking at least one first-year graduate (600-level) course.

Student Learning Outcomes


1. Demonstrate facility with the techniques of single and multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra

2. Effectively communicate mathematical ideas

3. Make accurate calculations by hand and with technological assistance

4. Reproduce essential assumptions, definitions, examples, and statements of important theorems

5. Describe the logical structure of the standard proof formats, reproduce the underlying ideas of the proofs of basic theorems, and create simple original proofs

6. Solve problems using advanced undergraduate methods from one of the core areas of pure mathematics: Algebra, Analysis, and Probability

B.A. Degree Requirements


In addition to the preliminary requirement described above, students are required to complete with an average of at least 2.0 and no grade below D, MAT 412  and 15 additional credits in upper division mathematics (MAT) courses numbered 400 or higher except 421, 485, and 503, at least two of which are from a single one of the groupings below: