Dr Aisling McCluskey, a professor of NUI Galway, is setting up a new module aimed at 3rd and 4th year students and would like to gauge people’s interest in the module. She says:

Hi, everyone!

I’m writing to as many of our students as I can to gauge the level of interest there might be in taking up the new module described below from next academic year 2021/2022. This module has a rather special distinction attaching to it which I will let you discover through reading the text below!  Suffice to say that I have rewarding experience in teaching such modules at NUI Galway. Students are attracted to them for a wide variety of reasons (you might be surprised!). At this stage, I need to have some idea of potential take-up by students so that I can present a strong case for the introduction of the module – it’s a simple matter of supply and demand. Rest assured, an email bearing an expression of interest will not constitute a commitment on your part; rather it will bring out to the relevant people that there is potential interest. In particular, there is no suggestion that you must follow through and pick the module.

Have a read below, think about it and please don’t hesitate to enquire further if questions occur to you. Ultimately, if you think you might be interested, please send me that all-important response as soon as you can so that I can count you as a potential participant. As I say, I don’t need firm numbers – just a measure of interest. Please also circulate this to other Maths students in your classes who you think might be interested.

My deadline on this is January 8^th – but sooner is always better!

You can reply to her at aisling.mccluskey@nuigalway.ie. The module description is:

Mathematical analysis underpins calculus: it is the reason why calculus works, and it provides a toolkit for handling situations in which algorithmic calculus doesn’t work. Since calculus in its turn underpins virtually the whole of the mathematical sciences, analytic ideas lie right at the heart of scientific endeavour, so that a confident understanding of the results and techniques that they inform is valuable for a wide range of disciplines, both within mathematics itself and beyond its traditional boundaries. Thus the module is suitable for both generalist and specialist mathematics undergraduates.

The module sets out to develop understanding and confidence in the central concept of limit and its outworking in the context of sequences, series and functions. Through a comprehensive range of worked examples supporting theory, the module presents the opportunity to strengthen facility with and deepen understanding of the fundamental notions of limit and continuity with a heavy emphasis on learning through doing in-class.

This module is a natural precursor for third and fourth year modules such as metric spaces, topology, functional analysis, measure theory as well as financial mathematics subjects. Of course you may have already taken some of these subjects by the time the new module comes on stream (next year) but it will still strengthen your mathematical foundation even if the chronology isn’t optimal.

(And now here comes the ‘special distinction’!) The module will be taught through the medium of Irish but with a heavy emphasis on bilingual instruction to ensure maximum participation and benefit. Assignments and exams/tests will be provided in both Irish and English, and credit given for answers in either (or both) languages. Crucially, the language of mathematics will trump the language of instruction, rendering the module widely accessible and certainly worth a look for the unconvinced!

Cé go bhfuil an chúrsa seo tri mheán na Gaeilge, beidh an béim ar an mhata é féin, agus ar dátheangachas ina dhiaidh.  Go háirithe, beidh obair bhaile agus an scrudú ar fáil trí Bhéarla agus trí Ghaeilge.

Textbook:

Understanding Analysis (Oxford University Press, 2018) by A. McCluskey and B. McMaster