Reading Courses
If there is a topic in mathematics which you would like to learn about, but we do not offer a regular course on it, you can always take a “Reading Course” with a faculty member. These are independent study courses (under the tutelage of a professor), and they still earn UO credit. You can take reading courses for 1-4 credits, with each credit corresponding to about 3 hours of work per week (the course would show up as MATH 405 on a transcript). If you don’t know an appropriate faculty member for your particular topic, you can always ask for a recommendation from one of our math advisors. Faculty members do get busy and so are not always available to provide reading courses, but in most cases they are happy to do this.
Directed Reading Program
The Directed Reading Program (DRP) pairs undergraduate and graduate students together to undertake independent study projects. Pairings are made based on the information given on the mentor and mentee applications. After pairings are made, mentors select a topic and reading material based on the mentee’s interests. Pairs meet weekly to discuss material for the duration of winter term. With the guidance of their mentor, each undergraduate prepares a short talk based on what they read over the 10 weeks.
Distinguished Lectures
The department offers a number of special lectures each quarter aimed especially at undergraduates, usually given by distinguished guests. Schedules can be found at the websites for the Oregon Distinguished Mathematics Lectures for Students and UO AWM Speaker Series.