Jamaican patois refers to the dialect(s) spoken by Jamaicans all around the world. This class will look at common patois words and their English equivalences, how sentences are formed, how to pronounce / speak patois, and various examples of patois in real life (videos, songs, TV ads, poems and more!)

Reading and talking about cool poetry in a relaxed environment. If you like the poems we read, we could talk about why a poem *works*. Class has been taught before but poems are new, maybe more mystical, fun, happy, sad? Who even knows...

Algebra is arguably the most important and most extensive area of modern mathematics. In this class, I will introduce some of the basic notions of algebra (groups, rings, fields, morphisms), as well as try to make students familiar with algebraic ways of thinking about things.

Will examine different types of virtual worlds such as online gaming communities (in particular MMORPGs). How are these worlds similar to the worlds we live in, how are they different? Why are these worlds so popular? What norms govern these worlds? What happens when things go horribly wrong?

A mathematical proof is a logical argument for why some statement is true. Certain proofs are thought of as elegant, beautiful, even divinely-inspired. We will briefly look at how proofs are constructed in general, then spend time admiring the beautiful ones without being too pretentious.

Reading and talking about poetry in a relaxed environment. If you find the poems interesting, we might talk about why this might be so. A similar course has been taught before but the poems we use will be different and likely more disturbing :-)

Graph theory is attractive because it is more or less intuitive, not very technical and yet extremely powerful. A graph is a collection of nodes and edges. Nodes are mere points, edges are lines connecting pairs of these points. From these simple definitions flow the issues of life. Knowledge of linear algebra helps but is not required.

Algorithms are sequences of instructions for doing things. If you've ever used a cookbook, or followed online instructions for installing a video game, you have used algorithms. We will look at interesting and useful algorithms, and try to analyze them. Class may include demonstration of some algorithms on a computer and other random and puzzling occurrences. :-)

Analysis: the study of functions and the spaces on which they act. This course: an exciting combination of the fundamentals of analysis with a lot of cool stuff.

Reading and talking about cool poetry in a relaxed environment. If you like the poems we read, we could talk about why a poem *works*.

Graph theory is attractive because it is more or less intuitive, not very technical and yet extremely powerful. A graph is a collection of nodes and edges. Nodes are mere points, edges are lines connecting pairs of these points. From these simple definitions flow the issues of life. Knowledge of linear algebra helps but is not required.

A measure is an abstract notion of volume or size. We will study some of the properties of transformations that preserve measure by examining their applications to continued fractions, the Kakutani skyscraper and linear transformations of the circle / the torus. If time permits, we might cover the application to the geodesic flow on the the hyperbolic plane.