Honors Mathematics Courses

Honors Mathematics Courses:

Each year the Department of Mathematical Sciences offers a selection of courses aimed at our departmental honors students. Senior Honors Theses (MAT 4510) and certain graduate courses (MAT/STT 5xxx) are offered Fall, Spring, and Summer. Typically one section of Junior Honors Seminar (MAT 3510) is offered each Fall and Spring and one honors section of Techniques of Proof (MAT 2110-410) is offered each spring. General descriptions are given below.

Current/Upcoming Offerings can be found at this link


MAT 2110-410 Techniques of Proof (Honors Section)

This course provides excellent preparation for upper division mathematics courses and is great for people interested in thinking prcisely and logically.  Techniques of Proof includes a study of methods of proof used in mathematics along with formal proof topics such as propositional calculus, predicate calculus, and several first order theories. Informal proof topics are drawn from number theory, set theory, and other areas of mathematics. Additional topics include introductions to writing mathematics, searching for mathematical content and sources, and careers in mathematics.  Prerequisite: honors status and Calculus II, or permission of the instructor.

[Note: MAT 2110-410 was formerly called MAT 2510 - Sophomore Honors Seminar, Intro. to Proof and Logic]

MAT 3510 - Junior Honors Seminar, Topics Vary

Junior honors seminar is a special topics course that focuses on the development of selected concepts related to modern algebra, analysis, differential equations, probability/statistics, etc. These topics are not generally found in the traditional curriculum. A junior honors seminar may be repeated for credit when content is not duplicated. Topics in the past semesters have included monte carlo methods, set theory, the mathematics of voting and elections, computability theory, cryptography and coding theory, and mathematical biology. Prerequisite: to be determined by the instructor.

[Note: Because the topics in Junior Honors Seminar vary, MAT 3510 can be taken for credit more than once.]

MAT 4510 - Senior Honors Thesis

In this course you will work with a faculty mentor to conduct mathematical research and you will write a senior honors thesis recording the results of your investigations. You can find many examples of senior honors thesis on the bookshelf of the 3rd floor Walker Hall lounge and online (for example, here). If you would like to write a thesis but want some help choosing a topic and a thesis advisor, please stop by the departmental honors director's office (Dr. Cook) and he will gladly direct you to faculty who have projects ready and waiting for talented undergraduate students to tackle. Prerequisite: Junior Honors Seminar and mathematics GPA of 3.45 or greater.

Other Honors Options

It is also possible to fulfill departmental honors course requirements by taking a graduate math/stat course (MAT/STT 5000 or above). In addition, on rare occasions we allow a junior or senior level math/stat course (MAT/STT 3000 or above) to be "contracted" as an honors course.