  These informal notes are closely based on a series of eight lectures given by
J.-P. Serre at the University of Oregon in October 1998. Professor Serre gave
two talks per week for four weeks.
  The first talk each week was concerned with constructing embeddings of finite
groups, especially $\PSL_2(p)$ and $\PGL_2(p)$, into Lie groups. The second
talk each week was about generalizations of the notion of complete reducibility
in group theory, especially in positive characteristic.
  The notes are divided into two parts, one for each of the topics of the
lecture series. At the end of the notes, there is a short list of references as
a guide to further reading.
