Fall 2017

Course Overview

This is an undergraduate and introductory-graduate course presenting the key mathematical concepts which belong to the basic repertoire of linguistic methods. The course is recommended for students considering research in linguistics or cognitive science, or intending to continue on to graduate programs in linguistics, computational linguistics, and related fields. It is an approved elective for the undergraduate major and minor, as well as for the MA in Computational Linguistics. In addition, the course fulfills the University Quantitative Reasoning requirement.

The course has two goals: first, to strengthen the student's math background in the areas most widely relevant to linguistic theorizing and computational linguistics, and second, to provide a broad overview of linguistic applications for various mathematical tools that would be of interest to students in linguistics, philosophy, and the cognitive and social sciences.

Time:
Tuesday & Thursday 2 - 3:20pm
Location:
Goldsmith Math 226
Textbook:
  • Kenneth H. Rosen "Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications", Seventh edition ONLY (2012).
  • Additional readings will be distributed through LATTE.

    • Instructor

    Sophia A. Malamud
    Email:
    Office: Volen 215
    Office Hours: Wed 1-2pm (priority for undergaduate advising, but course participants welcome)
                     and Thu 12-1pm (priority for course-related matters)
    OR email me for appointment

    Teaching Assistant

    Jamie Brandon
    Email: jbrandon at the usual Brandeis address
    Office hours: time TBD in the Vertica Lounge or Volen lobby.

    The Plan (s)

    See pdf syllabus for planned course schedule.

    Requirements

    Success in this four-credit course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, preparation for quizzes, etc.).

    Students are required to complete three types of assignments: homework problem sets, midterm quizzes, and the final exam. In addition, students must attend, and are expected to come prepared to fully participate in discussion and in-class “workshops”. Please see pdf syllabus for details of these requirements. Grading will be as follows:

    Attendance and participation:
    (including ungraded practice homework completion)     		10%
    Problem Sets: 56%
    Midterm quizzes: 20% (10% each)
    Final exam: 14%
  • I encourage you to discuss the problem sets with your classmates, and to work collaboratively, particularly on difficult problems. Such collaboration must be mentioned explicitly in handed-in solutions, and each student is responsible for writing up and handing in individual problem sets: no "group copies" will be accepted.
  • Homework on multiple pieces of paper needs to be stapled together! Write neatly. Think about what it must be like to read your own writing!
  • Homework will typically be assigned and collected on Thursdays, in class. The lowest score will be discarded. Late homework will incur a 10% late penalty for every day late until the solutions are handed out, except if there are genuine personal difficulties or medical emergencies.

    • Honour code

    Cheating is a very serious business and will not be tolerated at all. We will make every attempt to be reasonable about assignments, due dates, etc., but infractions of the honour code will be dealt with severely.

    Additional information

    Throughout the semester, we will use this website to make any course announcements, so please check in frequently. There is also a LATTE page for this course that you can access by logging in here. You must be officially registered for the course in order to access the LATTE page. Course readings will be posted through LATTE.

    If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see the professor immediately. Retroactive accommodation cannot be provided.