Contact Site Map

CI-M Program

The Mathematics Department offers a wide range of "CI-M" subjects, which may be used to fulfill the undergraduate Communication Requirement in Mathematics. See the Communication Requirement guidelines for a description of institute requirements.

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. Priority will be given to Mathematics seniors requiring CI-M credit who have completed at most one CI-M, followed by Mathematics juniors who have completed none. For 18.821, Project Laboratory in Mathematics, Mathematics seniors who have not otherwise fulfilled the Institute Laboratory Requirement also receive high priority.

Registration for all Mathematics CI-M classes will close at the initial preregistration deadline. For any class over-enrolled, the Department will conduct a lottery before Registration Day and form an ordered waiting list. Students will be informed of lottery results by email. Students may only enroll in CI-M subjects with the approval of Math Academic Services (MAS) personnel. The signature of your academic advisor does not enroll you in one of these courses without prior approval from the MAS.

CI-M Math Subjects

  • 18.100P or 18.100Q, Real Analysis (15 units)

    18.100P is similar to 18.100A, and 18.100Q (formerly 18.100C) is similar to 18.100B, but these CI-M variants offer three additional units of credit for instruction and practice in written presentation. 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. Prerequisite: 18.02. Enrollment limited.

  • 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.

  • 18.200, Principles of Discrete Applied Mathematics (15 units)

    Study of illustrative topics in discrete applied mathematics including sorting algorithms, probability theory, information theory, coding theory, secret codes, generating functions and linear programming. Instruction and practice in written communication provided. Corequisite: 18.06. Enrollment limited.

  • 18.204, Undergraduate Seminar in Discrete 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: 18.200 or 18.062, and one of 18.06, 18.C06, 18.700 or 18.701; or permission of instructor. Enrollment limited.

  • 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. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication provided. Prerequisites: 18.300, 18.353, 18.354, or permission of instructor. 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: 18.05 or 18.600 or 6.3700; and 18.06 or 18.C06 or 18.700 or 18.701. 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: 18.410. 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; 18.06 or 18.C06 or 18.510 or 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: 18.701; or 18.06 and 18.703; or 18.700 and 18.703. 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. Prerequisite: 18.701; or 18.06 and 18.703; or 18.700 and 18.703. 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. Students will give an oral presentation on one or two projects. 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 and, time permitting, the relationship between these objects and the theory of knots. 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: (18.06, 18.C06, 18.700, or 18.701) and (18.100A, 18.100B, 18.100P, or 18.100Q). Enrollment limited.

Credit for CI-M subjects from other courses

In addition to the Course 18 offerings, 8.06 or 14.18 or 14.33 may be used toward the CI-M requirement in Course 18 and 6.1800 (formerly 6.033) or 8.06 or 14.18 or 14.33 may be used toward the CI-M requirement in Course 18C. At most, one from the list, 6.1800, 8.06, 14.18, 14.33, 18.100P, 18.100Q, 18.200, and 18.642 (fall 2017 and 2018 only) may count toward fulfilling the Communication Requirement.

In very rare instances, the Academic Committee of the Mathematics Department may 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 online.