Undergraduate seminar: PHYS 212 [Spring 2024]
Notices
Course basics
This one credit course will meet weekly to discuss the latest research in different fields of physics, led by our expert faculty here in the Department of Physics.
Each week we will read an introductory or popular science article and then a different faculty member will give an overview of their research, which we will discuss during the seminar. The course will introduce you to different research areas in contemporary physics and help you find research opportunities within the department.
Course details
Class schedule: Our in-person class time will take place in Small Hall 122 on Thursdays at 2-3:20 pm.
Instructor: Chris Monahan (he/his/him), Small Hall 326C. Email: cjmonahan'at'wm.edu.
Course grading: Assessment will be based on your in-class contributions and a short presentation. You will have an opportunity to practice your presentations and receive feedback on your presentation. Each week, you will read a short introductory article (or two) in preparation for each class. There are neither problem sets nor exams; we will not have office hours. There is no required textbook. There are no prerequisites.
The preliminary course schedule is:
- February 1 Prof. Jackura [nuclear and hadronic theory]. Slides here [pdf].
- February 8 Prof. Vahala [plasma physics]. Preparatory reading: article 1 and article 2. Slides here [pdf].
- February 15 Prof. Armstrong [nuclear and hadronic experiment]. Preparatory reading: article 1 and article 2. Slides here [pdf].
- February 22 Prof. Larson [applied physics]. Preparatory reading: article 1 and article 2. Slides here [powerpoint].
- February 29 Prof. Novikova [atomic, molecular and optical physics]. Preparatory reading: article 1 and article 2.
- March 7 Prof. Averett [nuclear and hadronic experiment]. Preparatory reading: article 1 and article 2. Slides here [pdf].
- March 21 Prof. Aubin [atomic, molecular and optical physics]. Preparatory reading: article 1 and article 2.
- March 28 Prof. Qiu [nuclear and hadronic theory]. Preparatory reading: article 1 and article 2.
- April 4 Prof. Lukaszew [condensed matter physics and NSF].
- April 11 Prof. Yang [engineering and applied physics]. Preparatory reading: article 1 and article 2. Slides here
- April 25 Prof. Stark [plasma physics]. Preparatory reading: article 1 and article 2.
Syllabus
The preliminary syllabus can be found here (pdf).You can see our course poster here