Choice of courses

Students should take care to enrol in the mathematics courses most appropriate to their interests, needs, and background. In many cases, courses with similar titles may be intended for very different audiences. Students should be guided by the information given in this publication and should consult an advisor in case of doubt.

When selecting courses, please note the following:

1. A student choosing university-level mathematics courses for the first time should consider speaking either to a faculty advisor in the Department or to the Department's Undergraduate Office.

2. With the exception of courses which are core requirements for degrees in the Department, students should in general not expect courses (especially some upper-level courses) offered in a given calendar year to be offered also the following year. This applies to both Fall/Winter and Summer courses. The Department tries to offer some courses in alternate years, partly to allow variety in choice of topic. In some cases, some information about the year a course is expected next to be offered can be found in the Course Offering entry devoted to it (later in this minicalendar).

3. For information about courses offered in Summer 1999/2000 (except MATH 1014, 1025, and 1505), students should enquire at the office of the Department of Computer Science and Mathematics of Atkinson College (Room 527 Atkinson, tel. 736-5232). Questions about the summer versions of the above three courses should be directed to N502/503 Ross.

4. Note that instructors for some courses may change after publication of this minicalendar.

5. MATH 1510 6.0 is intended for students who have a weak mathematical background, even those who may have one or more OACs in mathematics (or equivalents). It can serve as preparation for MATH 1515 3.0 (formerly MATH 1500), which provides an entrance to further calculus courses.

6. Calculus options for first-year students:

1. BBA students who wish to take only a minimum amount of mathematics should take either both of MATH 1530 3.0 and MATH 1540 3.0, or MATH 1550 6.0. The prerequisite for these courses is MATH 1515 3.0 (formerly MATH 1500) or OAC Calculus or equivalent.
2. Science students (particularly those majoring in Biology, Geography, Kinesiology and Health Science, or Psychology) who do not require other specific calculus courses to satisfy degree requirements, or as prerequisites for higher-level courses, may take AS/SC/ MATH 1505 6.0 to satisfy the Faculty of Pure and Applied Science 1000-level mathematics requirement.
3. 
   
   Other students should be guided by paragraphs (c) and (d) below.
   
   
4. A student with at least one OAC in mathematics or equivalent, but without previous calculus, must begin the study of calculus with MATH 1515 3.0.
5. A student with OAC Calculus or equivalent can begin with MATH 1000 3.0 or MATH 1013 3.0 or MATH 1300 3.0, and then take MATH 1010 3.0 or MATH 1014 3.0 or MATH 1310 3.0.

Degree credit exclusions

Specific regulations concerning "degree credit exclusions" appear in the main York calendar. An exclusion occurs when two courses have overlapping material. As a general rule, you may not take both for degree credit. The concept of "equivalent" course is different; see the main York calendar for explanations of both these concepts. Department minicalendars do not contain all degree credit exclusions; when in doubt consult a departmental advisor.

Atlantis Exchange Project: Study in Europe

Undergraduate students in mathematics, computer science or physics, and graduate math students, may earn York credit while studying abroad for one or two terms, through the new programme Atlantis: New Avenues in the Teaching of Mathematics. The Project Leader is York mathematics professor Walter Tholen (tel. 736-5250, e-mail: tholen@pascal.math.yorku.ca). Atlantis is funded by the Government of Canada through the Learning and Literacy Directorate of the Department of Human Resources Development Canada. The programme contributes significantly to travel and living expenses during the student's stay at one of these York partner institutions: Coimbra (Portugal), Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium), Trieste, and L'Aquila (Italy).

Visit the project website at http://atlantis.yorku.ca. One may also get more information through York International at 201 York Lanes on campus (416) 736-5177), or by e-mailing Barbara Mann at bmann@yorku.ca.

Study Groups

Many faculty members of the Department believe that all students in our courses should participate in "study groups". The Department has organized a team of upper-year students as study group Coordinators to assist particularly first and second year students to form such groups with their classmates. Research has shown that, on the whole, students who participate in study groups from the beginning of their university experience tend to do better in their studies than those who do not.

For more information, please visit the following website: http://www.math.yorku.ca/Undergrad/studygroups.html

Club Infinity

This club is a student-run organization committed to providing visibility and a voice for mathematics and statistics students. It organizes and sponsors various activities at York which are aimed to help math and stats students in dealing with their studies, as well as socio--intellectual activities. Copies of old math exams are also available through the club. Please come in and get involved!

The club's web page URL is http://math.yorku.ca/infinity/. Here is a clip: "... the Math/Stat Student Common Room, located in N537 Ross, [is] smack in the middle of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. This room is intended for individual or group studying, eating and socializing of undergrads enrolled in math or stat courses. We've got a couch, plently of blackboard space, and a stash of undergraduate-accessible journals for your reading pleasure. There is also bulletin board space set aside for students to advertise used math texts they wish to buy or sell."

The club only has control of this room from 11:30 to 2:30 weekdays, but the room is generally open and available when not booked for other groups.

Department's WWW home page

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics has general Undergraduate and Graduate information available on-line on the World Wide Web. In addition, the course descriptions in this minicalendar will be available on the web. Our WWW address is: http://www.math.yorku.ca. Comments and/or questions can be e-mailed to webmaster@mathstat.yorku.ca.

York Continues to Excel on the Putnam Examination.

Some 400 colleges and universities across North America took part in the annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, held last December. According to unofficial preliminary results, York University performed very well for the second straight year. Altogether ten York students took valuable time from their studies at exam time, to compete in the venerable Putnam. The following participants had especially notable results:

Dan Beamish, M.C. Duarte, Max Garber, Franco Saliola, Yasaman Soudagar.

York's success is due in large measure to the "coach" of its team, Professor Yuri Medvedev. Yuri was a star himself in mathematical competition -- he registered an outstanding third place overall in the 1971 All-Union Mathematical Olympiad of the then Soviet Union (a competition roughly comparable to the Putnam in difficulty and prestige).