In Fall 2025, I am teaching CO 439/739 "Combinatorial Algebraic Geometry."
Commutative algebra and algebraic geometry have a reputation for being difficult and unintuitive, even though they are both at heart just the study of polynomials. We will study these areas through important families of examples, where the mysteries can be rendered concrete and combinatorial. By the end of the course, you should have a solid grounding for further study of the more arcane parts of commutative algebra and algebraic geometry, as well as the ability to tackle open problems of a combinatorial flavour. For more information on CO 439/739, see the advertisement.
I will also be teaching CO 431/631 "Symmetric Functions." Symmetric Function Theory is the heart of algebraic combinatorics, although it is hard to explain why except by teaching the course. Briefly, it is one of the most beautiful pieces of known mathematics, and most of algebraic combinatorics attempts to replicate some aspect of its glory in other contexts. There are deep connections to representation theory, algebraic geometry, and algebraic topology (although you don't need to know any of those to take the course). In fact, symmetric functions are closely related to the origins of Algebra and indeed the "symmetric group" is named after symmetric functions.
In previous terms, I have taught MATH 239 "Introduction to Combinatorics" (and its advanced version MATH 249), CO 430/630 "Algebraic Enumeration," and various graduate topics courses. At other institutions, I have taught Calculus, Abstract Algebra, Finite Mathematics, Ideas in Geometry, and Set Theory at the undergraduate level, as well as graduate Graph Theory.