Abstract.
One notion of "quantization" is that one replaces a commutative algebra A with a parametrized family of (possibly noncommutative) algebras (A_h) in such a way that one recovers the original algebra A in the limit as h -> 0. Under suitable conditions, this procedure induces an extra structure on A, namely a Poisson bracket.

In this series of two talks I will define these notions, survey some fundamental results, and give many examples. The first talk will be largely elementary, while the second will connect these ideas with some current work in progress.