Major

Students majoring in mathematics acquire knowledge of the basic definitions, axioms and theorems of mathematical systems. They apply mathematical reasoning within many different contexts and they develop proficiency in computation.

The mathematics discipline offers a B.A. and a B.S. in mathematics.

For the B.A. degree, students must complete the following:

  • MA 237N Introduction to Mathematical Thinking or CS 150M Discrete Structures
  • completion of MA 410 Mathematics Seminar
  • completion of MA 498 Comprehensive Exam or MA 499 Senior Thesis with a final grade of C- or better
  • five additional mathematics courses numbered above MA 1323M
  • Two additional science or mathematics courses

In addition to the ten courses above, two additional courses must be taken from one of the following tracks:

Pure Mathematics track

  • Learnability and Linguistic Theory, MA 268N
  • Abstract Algebra I or II, MA 335N, 336
  • Combinatorics, MA 339N
  • Real Analysis I or II, MA 433, 434
  • Introduction to Topology, MA 411
  • Mathematical Logic, MA 422

Applied Mathematics track

  • Optimization Techniques, MA 238
  • Probability and Statistics I or II, MA 333, 334
  • Dynamical Systems, MA 340
  • Numerical Analysis, MA 341
  • Fourier Analysis, MA 351
  • Cognitive Linguistics, MA 365N
  • Partial Differential Equations, MA 421
  • Complex Analysis, MA 445

For the B.S. degree, students must complete all the requirements of the B.A. degree. Additionally, they must complete four more science or mathematics courses.

Mathematics majors may not receive a math minor nor an applied math minor. A student must have at least a 2.0 GPA in mathematics courses at Eckerd. The two courses from the pure or applied tracks must be completed at Eckerd along with three math courses numbered above MA 132M, for a total of five math courses numbered above MA 132M completed at Eckerd.

There are two minors possible through the Mathematics Discipline: a Mathematics Minor and an Applied Mathematics Minor. Both require a total of five math courses. Two of the courses must be Calculus I (MA 131) and Calculus II (MA 132). The remaining three courses must be numbered above Calculus II.

The Mathematics Minor requires that at least one of the five courses comes from the Pure Mathematics track courses listed above or be Introduction to Mathematical Thinking (MA 237N).

The Applied Mathematics Minor requires that three of the five courses come from the Applied Mathematics track courses listed above or from the following: Introduction to Statistics (MA 133M), Differential Equations (MA 234N), Linear Algebra (MA 236N), or Calculus III (MA 233M).

A student may not minor in both math and applied math. A mathematics major may not receive a math minor nor an applied math minor. At least three of the five courses for the math minor and the applied math minor must be completed at Eckerd.