In Fall 2022, I am teaching CO 439/739 "Combinatorial Commutative Algebra".
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, see the advertisement.