Central characters in the superworld

The universal enveloping algebra of a Lie (super)algebra provides a canonical bridge between Lie algebras and associative algebras. In the case of semisimple Lie algebras the centre of universal enveloping algebra can be identified with the invariant polynomials. I will discuss the structure of this centre for the close relatives of semisimple Lie algebras in the superworld. All necessary definitions will be introduced, and no prior background in Lie theory will be assumed.