Program: Mathematics Minor - Clark University

Mathematics Overview

Undergraduate Program
The department supports undergraduate majors and minors in computer science and in mathematics. The computer science program is described in the computer-science portion of this catalog. The department also offers courses that play an important role in other disciplines.

In keeping with liberal-arts traditions, Clark’s mathematics major provides a solid education in mathematical principles for students who wish to apply mathematics in other fields and students who wish to pursue mathematics in graduate school. Clark mathematics majors have gone on to graduate school in pure mathematics, applied mathematics and computer science at such universities as Brown, Cornell, NYU (Courant Institute), and Stonybrook. Graduates are employed in the public and private sectors as statisticians, mathematical modellers and actuaries, as well as teachers from the elementary to university level.

For more information, please visit the Mathematics Department’s website.

Mathematics Placement Test

All students who intend to take mathematics courses or who need to satisfy the University’s mathematics proficiency requirement (with the exception of students with advanced-placement credit in calculus) must take the mathematics placement test given during orientation and preregistration. Based on placement test scores, some students will be required to pass IDND017 Foundations of Quantitative Thinking, offered through COPACE before they enroll in a formal-analysis course. Other students, who place at levels ranging from precalculus through MATH 124 , must begin in a course corresponding to their placement test scores. This course must not be higher or lower than the test score indicates. Students may challenge their placement by taking backup placement tests.

Mathematical Services

The mathematics department offers courses to help students using mathematics as a tool for studying other areas; see MATH 113 - Mathematical Problem Solving and MATH 217 - MATH 218 - Probability and Statistics and Topics in Statistics . Outside the department, COPACE offers IDND017 Foundations of Quantitative Thinking.

Minor Requirements

The mathematics minor consists of the following: calculus sequence (MATH 120 -MATH 121 -122 or MATH 124 -MATH 125 ); MATH 130 - Linear Algebra ; MATH 131 - Multivariate Calculus ; and two other mathematics courses (excluding MATH 113 and MATH 119 ), at least one of which must be 200 level. (Reading courses and internships are accepted only with departmental approval.) The two elective courses depend on the student’s interest. For instance, a student interested in the physical sciences could take MATH 172 - Introduction to Modern Analysis and MATH 244 - Differential Equations , while MATH 217 -MATH 218 Probability and Statistics, and Topics in Statistics might be more appropriate for social sciences. See the department for further suggestions. Total: six or seven courses, depending on student’s choice of calculus sequence.

Mathematics Faculty

Program

Frederic Green, Ph.D.
Li Han, Ph.D.
Stacey Hancock, Ph.D.
David Joyce, Ph.D.
Gideon Maschler, Ph.D.
Lawrence Morris, Ph.D.
Dominik Reinhold, Ph.D.
Lee Rudolph, Ph.D.
Natalia Sternberg, Ph.D. - Chair

Emeriti

John Kennison, Ph.D.