Instructor
Prof. Marco Varisco,
[email protected],
albany.edu/~mv312143
Office: Hudson 117A,
Office Hours: MW 4:30–6:00 or by appointment.
Schedule
MW 3:00–4:20 in Hudson B003.
Prerequisites
AMAT 540A.
Description
After reviewing fundamental groups and covering space theory, the course will focus on homology, with plenty of examples and applications throughout.
Textbooks
None is required and none will be followed closely — but the following book, which is freely available online, is a recommended and popular reference:
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Allen Hatcher, Algebraic Topology,
Cambridge University Press, 2002
pi.math.cornell.edu/~hatcher/AT/ATpage.html
Winner of the inaugural 2025 Elias M. Stein Prize for Transformative Exposition
Grading
Homework assignments and class participation.
New York State Education Law (Section 224-A) requires campuses to excuse, without penalty, individual students absent because of religious beliefs, and to provide equivalent opportunities for make-up examinations, study, or work requirements missed because of such absences. I will work directly with you to accommodate religious observances, provided that you notify me in a timely manner.
Reasonable accommodations will be provided for students with documented physical, sensory, systemic, medical, cognitive, learning, and mental health disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring accommodation in this class, please notify the Disability Access and Inclusion Student Services ([email protected]). Upon verification and after the registration process is complete, the DAISS will provide you with a letter that informs me that you are a student with a disability registered with the DAISS and lists the recommended reasonable accommodations.
It is difficult to succeed academically if you don’t have enough to eat, a safe place to live and sleep, or are struggling with an unforeseen emergency. If you need help meeting these or other basic needs, please seek assistance from Supplemental Support Services in the Dean of Students Office. While you’re there, take a look at the variety of helpful services available to you at albany.edu/dean-students. Resources and reporting links can be found at both of these links.
Of course, you are expected to follow the University’s Standards of Academic Integrity. We refer to the Graduate Bulletin for these and for the policies on attendance and incomplete grades. Notice in particular the following: “Attendance by all graduate students must be regular. […] Responsibility for class attendance rests with the student. In all cases the work missed through absence must be made up. However, permission to make up such work is not automatic and is given at the discretion of the instructor. The University reserves the right to exclude from a graduate program, course, or final examination students whose attendance in classes is unsatisfactory to their instructors or to the Dean of The Graduate School.”