Using a “Single Story” as an Integrative Thread in an Upper-Level Mathematics Course.

Even in the highest-level mathematics courses at undergraduate institutions, most students do not read mathematical research from professional journals. Such depth of content is often reserved for “independent studies” or summer REU's. In this article I describe a course that required students to read research papers, all of which centered on a single theme. The course covered advanced group theory topics while conveying the notion that there is a mathematical community that works together to advance mathematical knowledge. Using a single story as an integrative thread is an approach that can be adapted to any topic in mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]