Mark Thurner - University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Professor: Mark Thurner

Department: History

College: University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: LAH4433
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

All movies all the time, and when he does lecture it is extremely boring and he goes on tangents. Also VERY tough grader, this class will hurt my GPA, wish I had never taken it really. Subject matter is awesome but it's not worth taking this class with this professor. He seems nice enough, but not a great teacher.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: LAH4433
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Avoid at all costs. He plays movies instead of actually teaching the class. Some professors do this but make the class easier to compensate for their shortcomings, but hes a tough grader. Basically, just killing time until he can go on leave. Lesson: you can't take a class just based on interest in the subject, because the professor might be awful.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: LAH3931
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This was an AWESOME honors class! We visited museums in Gainesville, went to Museums Nights as a class, and on the last day of class he treated us to coffee and informal discussion about our interests and college plans. A very cultured, curious-about-everything man with tons of interest in theories. Likes discussion, but very relaxed! Recommend!

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: WOH4254
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He's very intelligent and helpful. Great class to take at UF. It's really eye opening and the assignments and projects are actually quite enjoyable. Great choice in books. I think Dr. Thurner is great.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: LAH3730
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He's a great professor and I came to view his class as a bi-weekly "treat" from my others classes. There are few professors in the US college education system who know as much about LAH as he does, and that was conveyed personally. There's not much room for discussion, but I suspect because the class hardly ever has anything worthwhile to say.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: WOH4254
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Good teacher, stubborn on his thought but allows you to express yours. Just listen to him in class.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: LAH3741
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Thurner is about as boring a professor as you could ask for, especially on a subject as dynamic as Latin American Revolutions. He doesn't field many questions in class. The books he chose were really solid, although you could get an A without reading. He's an anti-imperialist with sympathies to leftist Latin American movements, which is fine by me.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: LAH2020
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

You have to give the guy credit for trying to give lectures, but he often paraphrases the textbook and half the class stopped coming to lecture. Read the textbook and you'll do fine on the big essay tests (2 of those, TA's were pretty lenient with grading). Interesting if you make the effort to read the book, otherwise a fairly easy class.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: WOH4254
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Dr. Thurner is a complex individual. He was teaching three classes and was often dismissive and generally unhelpful the few times I went to see him (with one notable exception.) I learned a lot up to the mid-term and almost nothing the second half. He carries a distinct air of pretentiousness with him at all times. Dense material to read.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: WOH4254
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I took him for Nations and Nationalism. I thought he was awful. He is completely incomprehensible. The books he asigns are slightly interesting, but terribly written. I would avoid him.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: WOH4254
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I took his class even after reading some bad reviews, but he isn't that bad. It doesn't really matter if you like his lectures anyway, the essays are the only grades and they come from your reading. Take him just for his perspective on nationalism, very insightful.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: WOH4254
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

His teaching style is incredibly dry. There is little student interaction. Instead he just lectures aimlessly from excessively long power point slides. He is very unclear about writing assignments and he criticizes papers in a very pretentious manner. Don't take him!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: LAS2001
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I entered this class excited to learn about my own culture and came out very confused and discouraged. He rambles alot and barely makes his points clear.. He does 20% teaching becuase most of the time he just puts in a movie and goes. I read the book went to every class and only got a B. He gices zereo feedback on grades!!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: LAH3300
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Lectures sometimes unclear, most just copy whatever is on the powerpoint. Not much book usage. Shows several movies. Pretty easy to get an A w/o too much effort. He's VERY GOOD when it comes to discussing current Latin American issues. Despite what other raters say this guy is a badass. HE HAD PRESIDENT TOLEDO OF PERU COME IN TO SPEAK TO OUR CLASS!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: LAH
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Possibly the worst professor I've had in the department.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: LAH3100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This man is a **** in disguise...he does whatever the hell he wants and doesn't care if you like it or not...not too terribly difficuly. I barely did anything and I got a B.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: HIST
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

No Comments

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: LAH3300
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Not a terribly difficult class if you do the readings and come to class, the lectures are usually irrelevant to everything and class notes were not very useful to me with assignments

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: LAH3300
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

not a bad class, the first exam had nothing do with any lectures, which was good because there wasn't much substance to them. the final is a take home, and the midterm came straight from the book/videos, so i should make a decent grade, without putting a lot of effort in.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: LAH3300
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Dr. Thurner's specialty is national identity and Andean indigenous communities. He's not a "typical" history professor. His lectures are bland. He doesn't field many questions. He is interesting if you can get him going in a discussion, but that's quite rare. There is virtually no discussion in-class and the readings are almost never mentioned.