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Mathematics CI-M Program

In order to fulfill the Communication-Intensive GIR as a Mathematics Major, you must take two courses from the list of approved CI-M subjects in Mathematics. You may not receive Mathematics CI credit for more than one of the subjects 18.310C, 6.033, 8.06. Be sure to have finished one by the end of your junior year; otherwise you will be put on Academic Warning by the Committee on Academic Performance (CAP). For more detail see the MIT Communications Requirement website.

Follow these links for information for Double Majors and those seeking credit for CI-M courses from other departments.

With the exception of 18.100C, all Mathematics Department Communication-Intensive (CI-M) classes have limited enrollment. Generally, priority will be given to Mathematics Majors, with Mathematics seniors having first priority. Prerequisites will be enforced. For 18.821, Project Laboratory in Mathematics, priority will be given to Mathematics seniors who have not otherwise fulfilled the Institute Laboratory Requirement. For the others, priority will be given to Mathematics seniors who have completed at most one CI-M, followed by Mathematics juniors who have completed none.

Registration for all Mathematics CI-M classes will close at the close of the preregistration period. For any class over-enrolled, the Department will conduct a lottery before Registration Day and form an ordered waiting list. If a subject from the list below (other than 18.100C) does not show up on your Registration Form, even though you preregistered for it, you can conclude that you did not lottery into the class. In any case, if you wish to add in a CI subject on your Registration Form, you must speak to the UMO personnel in 2-102 when you pick up the form, before visiting your Academic Advisor. Your advisor's signature does not enroll you in one of these courses without prior approval from the UMO.

CI-M Math Subjects

  
All the courses carrying CI-M designation in Mathematics, except 18.100C, have enrollment caps.
The Mathematics Department CI offerings are as follows.
  • 18.096, Principles of Mathematics Presentation (9 units)
    Instruction in preparing and presenting professional papers in mathematics, including a tutorial providing individual guidance in editing and formatting a paper to make it suitable for publication in MIT's Undergraduate Journal of Mathematics. Students lecture on their papers and on topics of their choice, and write reviews of each other's lectures. Students must come with a draft containing an adequate amount of technical mathematics, such as a term paper or a research report. Enrollment limited.

  • 18.100C, Analysis I (15 units)
    Covers the fundamentals of mathematical analysis: convergence of sequences and series, continuity, differentiability, Riemann integral, sequences and series of functions, uniformity, interchange of limit operations. Shows the utility of abstract concepts and teaches an understanding and construction of proofs, with further instruction and practice in written and oral presentation. Prerequisite: 18.02 and 18.03.

  • 18.104, Seminar in Analysis (12 units)
    Students present and discuss subject matter taken from current journals or books. Topics vary from year to year. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication provided. Prerequisite: 18.100. Enrollment limited.

  • 18.304, Seminar in Discrete Applied Mathematics (12 units)
    Seminar in combinatorics, graph theory, and discrete mathematics in general. Participants read and present papers from recent mathematical literature. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication provided. Prerequisite: 18.310 or 18.700. Enrollment limited.

  • 18.310C, Principles of Applied Mathematics (12 units)
    Study of illustrative topics in discrete applied mathematics including sorting algorithms, information theory, coding theory, secret codes, generating functions, linear programming, and game theory. Instruction and practice in written communication provided. Same content as 18.310, but assignments are structured with an additional focus on writing.

  • 18.384 Undergraduate Seminar in Physical Mathematics (12 units)
    The applied mathematics of continuous media and classical physics. Reading and presentation of papers from recent applied mathematics and physics literature. Topics and papers include fluid mechanics, solid mechanics, and biophysics. Enrollment limited.

  • 18.424, Seminar in Information Theory (12 units)
    Considers various topics in information theory, including data compression, Shannon's Theorems, and error-correcting codes. Students present and discuss the subject matter. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication provided. Prerequisite: 18.06 and 18.05, 6.041, or 18.440. Enrollment limited.

  • 18.434, Seminar in Theoretical Computer Science (12 units)
    Topics vary from year to year. Students present and discuss the subject matter. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication provided. Prerequisite: 18.404 and 18.410. Enrollment limited.

  • 18.504, Seminar in Logic (12 units)
    Students present and discuss the subject matter taken from current journals or books. Topics vary from year to year. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication provided. Prerequisite: 18.100 and either 18.700 or 18.701. Enrollment limited.

  • 18.704, Seminar in Algebra (12 units)
    Topics vary from year to year. Students present and discuss the subject matter. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication provided. Prerequisite: One subject in linear algebra and some experience with proofs. Enrollment limited.

  • 18.784, Seminar in Number Theory (12 units)
    Topics vary from year to year. Students present and discuss the subject matter. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication provided. Topic for fall 2007: Quantum calculus and its applications to number theory. Topic for spring 2008: Modular forms in number theory and the work of Ramanujan. Enrollment limited.

  • 18.821, Project Laboratory in Mathematics (12 units)
    Institute LAB. Guided research in mathematics, employing the scientific method. Students confront puzzling and complex mathematical situations, through the acquisition of data by computer, pencil and paper, or physical experimentation, and attempt to explain them mathematically. Students choose three projects from a large collection of options. Each project results in a laboratory report subject to revision. An oral presentation of one project is given in a course conference. Projects are drawn from many areas, including dynamical systems, number theory, algebra, fluid mechanics, asymptotic analysis, knot theory, and probability. Prerequisites: two courses from the Mathematics Department numbered 18.100 or higher. Enrollment limited.

  • 18.904, Seminar in Topology (12 units)
    Students present and discuss the subject matter with faculty guidance. Topics include the fundamental group and covering spaces. Instruction and practice in written and oral presentation provided. Prerequisite: 18.901. Enrollment limited.

  • 18.994, Seminar in Geometry (12 units)
    Students present and discuss subject matter taken from current journals or books. Topics vary from year to year. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication provided. Prerequisite: 18.101. Enrollment limited.

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Credit for CI-M courses from other departments

The Academic Committee of the Mathematics Department will consider supporting individual students' petitions to grant CI-M credit in Mathematics for courses from other departments. Such courses must carry CI-M credit in their own departments. The substituted course must make sense in terms of the student's own academic program and career path. Mathematics Department support may require additional work to bring written components into satisfactory mathematical form. The petitions are then subject to approval by the Subcommittee on the Communication Requirement (SOCR). Petition forms are available on line: http://web.mit.edu/commreq.


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Double Majors

Students must pass two CI-Ms in each major. However, regulations state that "In some cases, a CI-M subject may be used to fulfill the communication component of both majors simultaneously if the subject is approved for both programs." In general, approval of CI-M courses outside of Mathematics for this purpose requires a petition process as described above, but the CI-M courses 6.033 and 8.06 are pre-approved. At least one subject must be from the Department of Mathematics. For more detail see the MIT Communications Requirement website.

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