18.204 focused on the structure and communication of mathematical work, the research process and consulting math libraries, and math as a career or for further study. It differed from a traditional math class in many ways. Student presentations and talks on chosen subjects formed the majority of class time. Instructors created workshops to guide us through the mechanics and revision process of papers and presentations. And, most crucially, the seminar was based around conducting research, writing papers, and delivering talks; it was not the standard, content-driven class.

The class culminated in an expository paper; I centered mine around Richard P. Stanley's 1973 paper on "Acyclic orientations of graphs". Click here to access it, or use the PDF viewer below.