\magnification = \magstep2 \centerline{GRADUATE STUDENT ALGEBRA SEMINAR} \centerline{CONFORMAL FIELD THEORY } \vskip3ex \centerline{Tuesdays at Noon} \vskip2ex \centerline{Room ?4E17? DRL} \vskip2ex \centerline{Introduction and Overview} \vskip2ex \centerline{Y.-Z. Huang} \vskip2ex \centerline{Tuesday September 15} \vskip3ex \vskip3ex \centerline{CONFORMAL FIELD THEORY SEMINAR} \vskip3ex \centerline{Tuesdays at 3:10} \vskip2ex \centerline{Room ?4E17? DRL} \vskip2ex \centerline{Introduction to Operads} \vskip2ex \centerline{Jim Stasheff - UNC and U Penn} \vskip2ex \centerline{Tuesday September 22} \vskip3ex An operad is an algebraic/topological gadget for keeping track of multiparameter families of maps $X^n\rightarrow X^k$. Originally invented for the homotopical characterization of iterated (based) spaces of loops, the special example of disks within disks within disks... has recently been observed within conformal field theory. There is also some relevance to n-categories. \end ==============================================================================