Toric varieties give us an interesting class of examples of algebraic varieties where it's often easier to do explicit calculations and thus test results and theorems on. They are geometric objects defined by combinatorial information and have a rich theory of their own. In this talk, we will introduce toric varieties via examples and see some of their properties. If time permits, we may discuss some connections with symplectic geometry, namely the moment map. The talk should be accessible to anyone familiar with the notion of algebraic varieties. Speaker(s): Reebhu Bhattacharyya (UM)