Information on this syllabus is subject to change. Any updates will be posted to this site. In particular, any required changes in course delivery, such as transition to remote delivery only, may necessitate significant modifications to this syllabus.
Instructor: Ariel Barton
Contact information:
Email: aeb019@uark.edu
Office: SCEN 348
Email will be reviewed within one business day.
Class time and location: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 12:55–1:45 p.m., January 17–May 8, 2024, Agricultural Building 301A.
Office hours: Office hours will be held at the following times and places:
If the selected times do not work for you, or if you wish to speak to me privately, please email me and we will schedule an appointment at another time.
Course Description: Complex numbers, analytic functions, power series, complex integration, Cauchy's Theorem and integral formula, maximum principle, singularities, Laurent series, and Möbius maps.
Course Objectives: During this course, students should:
Prerequisites: MATH 5523.
Textbook: Function Theory of One Complex Variable, third edition, by Robert E. Greene and Steven G. Krantz, ISBN 978-0-8218-3962-1.
Recording of Class Lectures: Students are allowed to record class and office hours. By attending this class, the student understands the course is being recorded and consents to being recorded for official university educational purposes. Be aware that incidental recording may also occur before and after official class times. Recordings may include personally-identifiable comments submitted to the chat stream during class.
Inquiry-based learning: Students will be supplied with a list of lecture problems (PDF or HTML). This list of problems constitutes the notes for this course. Written homework assignments will be posted to Blackboard.
Students may choose to either present solutions to lecture problems during class, or to turn in written homework assignments.
Specifically, a student who presents a complete solution at the board during class will be granted 2–24 presentation points (depending on the problem and on originality of their solution). Students may view their remaining presentation points on Blackboard.
If a student does not turn in a written assignment or turns in an assignment with fewer than 3 problems worked, and has remaining presentation points to spend, then 12 presentation points will be deducted per unworked problem and the assignment score will be recorded as though the student had received full credit on the missing problem or problems.
Homework: Homework assignments will be posted to Blackboard. I expect to have 14 regular assignments throughout the semester. You may work together on the homework assignments, but each student must write up their work in their own words and submit their own work for grading. Graded homework will be returned via email.
Homework rewrites: You can expect to have three problems on each of your weekly homework assignments. On each homework assignment, you are permitted to rewrite one problem whose grade you are unhappy with. The rewrite's due date will be included in the email you receive returning your homework to you and will generally be at least five days later. Homework may be uploaded to the same location in Blackboard as the original assignment.
Homework formatting: Homework submission is generally required to follow the following rules. If you feel that they place an undue burden on you (for example, if you do not own a computer), talk to me and we will arrange an exception or accommodation.
It should be in PDF format (a compiled PDF, not TeX source code).
My annotation software (the software I use for grading) can deal with PDF files better than almost any other format. Also, it is generally straightforward to convert other formats to PDF and my grading is much smoother if all homework files are in the same format.
It should uploaded to the correct location in Blackboard.
This collects all students' homework in a standardized location (meaning I am less likely to lose your homework) and also gives your homework standardized file names (which makes it much easier to return). If you are unable to upload your homework to Blackboard, instead email it to me. The file name must be HW-N-username.pdf (or Rewrite-N-username.pdf), where N is the homework number and username is your UA username (that is, your university email address without the @uark.edu).
It must be easy to read, and the file size must not be too big. This generally means that you must type your homework using LaTeX. The following template produces output that I find easy to read and grade.
Exams and course grades: There will be no exams in this course unless the majority of students request that exams be held. Your course grade will be based entirely on your homework scores (including presentation points as indicated above). This means that we will hold an (otherwise as usual) two-hour class on Wednesday, December 13, 3:00–5:00 p.m., or at the date and time reserved for our final exam as indicated on the registrar's website.
| Date | Event |
| Wednesday, Jan. 17 | First day of class |
| Monday, Jan. 22 | Last day to add a course |
| Monday, Jan. 29 | Last day to drop a course |
| March 18–22 | Spring break |
| Friday, April 19 | Last day to withdraw from a course. |
| Wednesday, May 1 | Penultimate day of class |
| Wednesday, Dec. 13, 12:45–2:45 | Last class session (held at the date and time reserved for our final exam, as indicated on the registrar's website). |
Electronic devices: Cell phones, tablets, laptops, and other electronic devices may be used in class. The expectation is that these devices will be used for taking notes, routine calculations (i.e., calculator apps), accessing course materials, and other course-related uses only. Please do not text or play games in class!
Inclement weather policy: Class will meet unless the University is closed. On-campus students are expected to be present. Off-campus students should make their own decisions in the best interest of personal safety. Off-campus students will not be penalized for being absent on those days the Fayetteville Public Schools are closed due to weather, but are encouraged to attend by Zoom if possible.
If the University is closed due to inclement weather, office hours will be held over Zoom unless the instructor is without electricity or internet access. Class will either be also held over Zoom or cancelled; you will be notified of which by email as soon as possible.
If attendance is severely affected by weather, deadlines and exam dates may be adjusted. Please do not call the Department of Mathematical Sciences with weather-related inquiries. You may contact me for information.
Communication: The best way to communicate with me (beyond coming to my office hours) is by email. You can expect a reply within 24 hours, excluding weekends and holidays. Students are expected to monitor their uark email address regularly and consult the course Blackboard site for important announcements.
Accommodations: Under University policy and federal and state law, students with documented disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations to ensure the student has an equal opportunity to perform in class. If any member of the class has such a disability and needs special academic accommodations, please report to the Center for Educational Access (CEA). Reasonable accommodations may be arranged after the CEA has verified your disability.
All accommodations requested by the Center for Educational Access will be fulfilled to the best of the instructor’s ability. It is the student’s responsibility to discuss the implementation of the accommodations with the instructor, either in person or via email.
Certain accommodations will be granted only at the CEA’s request. Some accommodations must be fulfilled using the CEA's resources. Other accommodations are available to any student who makes the request in a timely fashion. Please consult with your instructor in all such cases.
Classroom Etiquette: Students and instructors each have an important role in maintaining a classroom environment optimal for learning, and are expected to treat each other with respect during class, using thoughtful dialogue, and keeping disruptive behaviors to a minimum. Both students and faculty perceive abusive language directed towards others as the most disruptive behavior. Other behaviors that can be disruptive of in person classes are chatting and whispering during class, the use of smartphones or laptops for texting or in other ways unrelated to the course, preparing to leave before class is over, and consistently arriving late to class. Inappropriate behavior in the classroom may result in a request to leave the class and/or a referral to the Office of Academic Integrity and Student Conduct.
Video recordings: By request of the students, the lectures for this course will be recorded and links will be posted to Blackboard. By attending this class, the student understands the course is being recorded and consents to being recorded for official university educational purposes. Be aware that incidental recording may also occur before and after official class times. Recordings may include personally-identifiable comments submitted to the chat stream during class.
Unauthorized Use of Class Recordings: These recordings may be used by students only for the purposes of the class. Students may not download, store, copy, alter, post, share, or distribute in any manner all or any portion of the class recording, (e.g. a 5- second clip of a class recording sent as a private message to one person is a violation of this provision). This provision may protect the following interests (as well as other interests not listed): faculty and university copyright; FERPA rights; and other privacy interests protected under state and/or federal law. Unauthorized recording, or transmission of a recording, of all or any portion of a class is prohibited unless the recording is necessary for educational accommodation as expressly authorized and documented through the Center for Educational Access with proper advance notice to the instructor. Unauthorized recordings may violate federal law, state law, and university policies. Student-made recordings are subject to the same restrictions as instructor-made recordings. Failure to comply with this provision will result in a referral to the Office of Student Standards and Conduct for potential charges under the Code of Student Life. In situations where the recordings are used to gain an academic advantage, it may also be considered a violation of the University of Arkansas’ academic integrity policy.
Grade Disputes: The instructor is committed to keeping students informed of their standing in the class. Scores on all graded items will be posted in a timely manner. Students are expected to bring any possible errors to the attention of the instructor within one week of posting. This maintains an accurate grade record throughout the semester. All scores posted before Dead Day will be deemed accurate unless a possible error is brought to the attention of the instructor before the scheduled final exam.
Incompletes: Only given in extreme circumstances, and only when the student has satisfactorily completed all but a small portion of the work in the course. Students must make prior arrangements with the professor well before the end of the semester.
Academic Integrity: As a core part of its mission, the University of Arkansas provides students with the opportunity to further their educational goals through programs of study and research in an environment that promotes freedom of inquiry and academic responsibility. Accomplishing this mission is only possible when intellectual honesty and individual integrity prevail. Each University of Arkansas student is required to be familiar with and abide by the university’s ‘Academic Integrity Policy’ at http://honesty.uark.edu/policy/index.php. Students with questions about how these policies apply to a particular course or assignment should immediately contact their instructor.
Unauthorized Websites or Internet Resources: There are many websites claiming to offer study aids to students, but in using such websites, students could find themselves in violation of our University’s Academic Integrity and Code of Student Life policies. These websites include (but are not limited to) Quizlet, Bartleby, Course Hero, Chegg, and Clutch Prep. The U of A does not endorse the use of these products in an unethical manner. These websites may encourage students to upload course materials, such as test questions, individual assignments, and examples of graded material. Such materials are the intellectual property of instructors, the university, or publishers and may not be distributed without prior authorization. Furthermore, paying for academic work to be completed on your behalf and submitting it for academic credit is considered ‘contract cheating’ per the Academic Integrity Policy. Students found responsible for this type of violation face a grading penalty of ‘XF’ and a minimum one-semester academic suspension per the University of Arkansas Sanction Rubric. Please let us know if you are uncertain about the use of a website.
Intellectual Property: Notes, review material, exams, quizzes, videos or other learning material used in this class are the intellectual property of the instructor. Selling or freely sharing this content in electronic or written form is a violation of intellectual property rights and also constitutes a violation of the University’s academic integrity policy. Your continued enrollment in this class signifies your understanding of and your intent to abide by this policy. There are severe consequences for sharing class content online.
Emergency Procedures: Many types of emergencies can occur on campus; instructions for specific emergencies such as severe weather, active shooter, or fire can be found at https: //safety.uark.edu/emergency-preparedness/.
Health and wellness: https://catalog.uark.edu/generalinfo/studentaffairs/#healthcentertext