Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 3 sessions / week, 1 hour / session

Prerequisites

18.906 Algebraic Topology II

Description

The Kan seminar—named after the late MIT professor Daniel Kan—focuses on classic papers in algebraic topology. Each student gives one or two talks on each of three papers, chosen in consultation with the instructor, reads all the papers presented by other students, and writes reactions to the papers. This course is useful not only to students pursuing algebraic topology as a field of study, but also to those interested in symplectic geometry, representation theory, and combinatorics.

Calendar

Each student gives one or two talks on each of three papers, alternating presentations throughout the semester.

SES # TOPICS PRESENTERS
1 Organization Instructor
2 Sample Math Talk Instructor
3 Math Talk Student A
4 Math Talk (cont.) Student B
5 Math Talk (cont.) Student (Auditing)
6 Math Talk (cont.) Student (Auditing) (cont.)
7 Student C Student C
8 Practice Talk Session*
9 Math Talk Student D
10 Practice Talk Session
11 Student E Student E
12 Math Talk Student (Auditing)
13 Math Talk (cont.) Student F
14 Practice Talk Session
15 Math Talk Student G
16 Practice Talk Session
17 Math Talk Student A
18 Practice Talk Session
19 Math Talk Student B
20 Practice Talk Session
21 Math Talk Student C
22 Math Talk (cont.) Student D
23 Practice Talk Session
24 Math Talk Student E
25 Math Talk (cont.) Student F
26 Math Talk (cont.) Student G
27 Math Talk (cont.) Student A
28 Practice Talk Session
29 Math Talk Student B
30 Math Talk (cont.) Student C
31 Math Talk (cont.) Student D
32 Practice Talk Session
33 Practice Talk Session (cont.)
34 Math Talk Student E
35 Math Talk (cont.) Student F
36 Practice Talk Session
37 Math Talk Student G

*About one-third of the practice talks were included in the course calendar; students scheduled the remaining two-thirds independently.