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WOW, that's all I can say after taking this class. Dr. Thacker is a pure GENIUS and his knowledge of European history in terms of its political, social, economic, and military areas is simply remarkable. He may be conservative and make jokes about liberals in his class (which I liked because I am conservative), but dang it if liberals can control 90% of the department then I can have my 10%.
Thacker doesn't use a textbook to teach the class and recites most his knowledge from memory. If you suck at note taking then this isn't the class for you. You don't have Power Point slides to tell you when he switches subject so you have to have an ear for those changes and for tests you don't get a study guide. However, the exams are fair and come straight from the notes he gives in class.
For grades you have a midterm exam worth 25%, a term paper over anything dealing with Germany worth 25%, a final exam worth 40%, and Thacker has a subjective portion of 10% which can help you or hurt you. You also have to read five books if your an undergraduate and submit a list of those books at the end of the semester. Thacker grades a little on the picky side, but with a knowledge base like he has he has a right to. If you do extensive research on your term paper and study well for the exams (including lots of names/events/DATES/etc.) then you should get an A.
While there isn't an attendance policy, Thacker expects you to show up. He won't call role after the first two classes, but he'll know if you show up or not. Believe me, he's not sympathetic to people who turn in late work or who whine after they've missed excessive amounts of classes.
I believe Dr. Thacker might be retiring from WKU either this year or next year, but if you love history THEN YOU MUST take this man, you'll never regret it. You want to learn in his class because you don't want to let him down and that's the sign of a damn good instructor in my opinion.
A+++ all the way and thank you Dr. Thacker for giving me a totally new perspective on history
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