HIUS 3411

This course covers the development of the American business corporation, mostly looking at 1820-1920. It's a mix of law, history, and economics. Professor Thomas is a good lecturer and while there is a lot of reading, I did not find it overly dense. For better and for worse, it is a very standard/old-school history course. Professor Thomas lectures all class with no class discussion, there's a lot of reading assigned out of multiple books and course packets, and your grade is two papers, a midterm, and the final. The assignments all felt pretty fair (but also I took this course pass/fail so I wasn't watching my grade closely). I do wish the course had extended closer to present day -- there's so much to say about how the corporation evolved into the late 20th/early 21st century but ultimately it is about history and not the present day. I thought this course was very accessible for me being a non-history major but definitely make sure you are interested in the subject matter because it can get rather niche at times. #tCFS24

This course is both challenging and yet simultaneously rewarding. The readings are extensive and very long—and I suspect most, if not all, of the students in the course do not complete them. The lectures, though, cover most of the content that is necessary for students to know in order to do well on the papers and the exams. I relied heavily, for example, on the notes I took during the course and by the end of the semester, had a document with 140 pages of typed notes. Even though the exams and the papers are challenging, Thomas grades fairly and the exam curves are generous.

Ultimately, Thomas is an engaging lecturer, and describes the content in a way that makes it very interesting and exciting to learn. Although he has a reputation for having hard classes, I highly recommend taking any course with him if you are interested in economics, history, or business—and are willing to put in the effort.

Great lecturer and interesting components, but very tough class. The readings are very long. He is very harsh in grading and there are 2 papers and 2 tests. The exams are long and hard, so readings are vital. Although he sometimes curves, I would not recommend this class for a GPA booster

Very interesting class and a very solid lecturer. There is a lot of assigned reading for the class, but you can still get a solid A- without doing most of it. Almost all of the material needed for exams and papers is lectured in depth in class, the readings just serve to supplement papers as sources imo. I've taken two other classes with Mark Thomas and would highly recommend any of his classes if you are a history or economics major as he primarily deals with economic history courses.

The readings get ridiculous, there are some weeks where the reading will ruin your schedule if you don't get ahead early.

While Thomas is an excellent lecturer, the material is extremely boring at times. Some subjects were legitimately a snore, like the biographies of various innovators.

I didn't feel like I knew what he wanted to see out of my papers, so I ended up getting a pretty average grade. If you have taken another class of his, like most of the class did apparently, then you're probably going to have an easier time.

enjoyable class, not the easiest history one but thomas curves it. good lecturer though

Not that hard... if you do the readings, take good lecture notes, study... not as hard as advertised

Lectures are awesome. Very tough grader however.

Thomas is a fantastic lecturer, very knowledgable and sometimes funny. I enjoyed the class. Readings are enormous, and generally you dont need to do them. Tests can be tricky, so remember the authors of the books (not as much the course packet readings).

Two papers and two exams are your grade. Both papers count as a "take home" portion of the midterm and final. All essays, lots of reading, but Thomas is very interesting to listen to and very accessible/approachable.

Midterm was NOT at all easy. Thomas is an entertaining, enjoyable lecturer, but I found the topic of the class boring, and he is a pretty tough grader.