Honors 213

Term Paper/Project

There are several themes to this course, including  topics in the history of mathematics, foundational issues, philosophy of mathematics, the notion of rigorous proof in geometry.  In the term paper / project you are invited to explore one of these areas in more detail. 

Papers can include any of the topics above.  You will find it useful to scan the material to be covered in the course to decide on an area that interests you most.  You should also look at the "Major Exercises" and "Projects" sections at the end of each chapter.  A related series of such exercises / projects can form the basis for term papers and projects. All papers/projects will require substantial writing.  In particular, mathematical projects should come with commentary (historical and otherwise) in addition to proofs.

Let's use the following for a draft schedule:

• Monday, February 11: Discussion of paper/project
• Monday, March 3: Paper/project proposals due. I will return them by the following Monday.  This is worth 5% of your term paper grade.  Email is OK for this milestone only.
• Thursday, March 27 (Please note change in date):  Annotated paper/project bibliography due.   Please note also that this is 10% of your term paper grade.  Please also note that this is Thursday after Spring Break.  Early submissions cheerfully accepted.  An annotated bibliography, for the purposes of this class, is a list of sources you intend to use, a brief description of the source, and why the source is appropriate for your paper.  A short paragraph for each source.
• Friday, April 18:  Substantial draft due (formal progress report and work completed so far for projects).  Please note that this is 25% of your overall term paper grade.  This is intended to be a substantial (i.e., nearly completed - drafts with sections labeled "to be added" or words to that effect do not get very many points) draft that I can comment on and make suggestions for the final draft. 
• Wednesday, May 7. All materials due in class.

Papers should be at least 10 pages in length and supported by a substantial bibliography (5 - 10 items, of which only a small number can be web references).

Please note that substantial penalties will be assessed for missed deadlines for the paper. Milestones will be assessed as follows:

• Proposal: 5 pts.
• Bibliography: 10 pts.
• First Draft: 25 pts.

Any questions? Please ask!