Logic Research for Undergraduates

2007 Annual Meeting of the Association for Symbolic Logic
University of Florida Gainesville, Florida
March 10-13, 2007
Organized by Walker White

My logic experience as an undergraduate

Christopher S. Hardin
Department of Mathematics, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063, USA. E-mail: chardin [at] email [dot] smith [dot] edu.

I will describe my experience doing research in logic as an undergraduate, and how it led to and influenced my subsequent work in logic in graduate school and afterward. I will also talk about how I came to study logic in the first place. Although this will be my own perspective as a former student, I will emphasize the role of faculty in making the experience successful.

[Slides]

Overcoming barriers to undergraduate research in logic

Jeffry L. Hirst
Dept. of Mathematical Sciences, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608, USA. E-mail: jlh [at] math [dot] appstate [dot] edu.

Undergraduates who otherwise might be drawn to participate in research activities are sometimes daunted by the prospect of choosing a topic, searching the literature, and type-setting their results. A handful of classroom demonstrations, introductory assignments, and web pages can eliminate these barriers.

[Slides]

A sampling of capstone papers in logic

Robert S. Milnikel
Department of Mathematics, Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio 43022-9623, USA. E-mail: milnikelr [at] kenyon [dot] edu.

Every Senior Mathematics major at Kenyon writes a capstone paper outside the context of any classes. The subject is completely up to the student, but is usually an extension of material covered in a course. Over the last few years a number of students have expressed interest in writing on aspects of logic and set theory, despite Kenyon’s meager offerings in those areas. Finding appropriate topics for students with slight background has been a challenge, but the results have been rewarding. I will discuss a handful of student papers in logic and theoretical computer science from the last several years.

What is undergraduate research in logic?

Walker M. White
Department of Computer Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. E-mail: wmwhite [at] cs [dot] cornell [dot] edu.

Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs) are becoming an increasingly important part of undergraduate education. Not only do they provide a bridge between undergraduate and graduate mathematics, but they also have some influence on the type of research that students go into when they reach graduate school. Therefore, if we are to recruit more students in mathematical logic, then we need to make such research opportunities available to them in their undergraduate education. With that said, there are many different ways of achieving that goal. In this talk, we will examine several of the different ways to get undergraduate students interested in working in mathematical logic. We will examine the advantages and disadvantages of each. Finally, we will conclude with a discussion of what can be done to increase the availability of logic research experiences to undergraduate students.